Former State Dept. employee pleads guilty to concealing contact with Chinese spies

A former State Department official pleaded guilty Wednesday to concealing her contacts with two Chinese spies who showered her with gifts and benefits worth tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for access to sensitive diplomatic data.

Candace Marie Claiborne, 63, admitted to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. She will be sentenced on July 9.

Over the course of five years, the two Chinese spies provided Claiborne with cash, meals, tuition payments, a furnished apartment, phone and laptop computer, according to court documents. Some of the gifts were also provided to a “close family member,” prosecutors said.

Claiborne said the benefits could generate more than $20,000 a year working for Chinese agents, according to court documents.

In exchange, she provided them with internal State Department data, ranging from U.S. economic strategies to visits by dignitaries between the two countries.

More