Monica Elfriede Witt was born on 8 April 1979 and is a former United States Air Force technical sergeant and defense contractor who defected to Iran in 2013.
22 Facts About Monica Witt
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Monica Witt is a fugitive from a United States Department of Justice indictment for espionage against the United States since 2018.
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Monica Witt was then assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations as an enlisted counterintelligence special agent until separating from the Air Force in 2008.
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Monica Witt continued working in intelligence as a military contractor until 2010.
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Monica Elfriede Witt was born on 8 April 1979 in El Paso, Texas.
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The New York Times reported that her mother died shortly before Monica Witt entered active duty in 1997, and that she had "drifted from her relatives" by 2008.
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Monica Witt said that it was a mission to Iraq and a desire to understand Iraqis that prompted her to study the Quran.
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The United States Department of Justice alleged that Monica Witt appeared on television in Iran and converted to Islam there.
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Monica Witt joined the United States Air Force in August or December 1997.
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The professional ability and outstanding aerial accomplishments of Sergeant Monica Witt reflect great credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
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Monica Witt was transferred to Andrews Air Force Base from Offutt Air Force Base in November 2003, and began her assignment as an Air Force Office of Special Investigations special agent, focusing on criminal investigation and counterintelligence.
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Monica Witt continued deploying, conducting classified operations in the Middle East, and had access to a special access program classified information, including details of ongoing counterintelligence operations, true names of sources, and the identities of US agents involved in the recruitment of those sources.
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Monica Witt separated as a technical sergeant in either June or March 2008.
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Monica Witt seemed distressed by what she called 'gross incompetence' by her superiors during her time abroad.
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About herself, Monica Witt described an isolated woman conflicted about her self-concept and sense of belonging.
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Monica Witt traveled to Iran in February 2012 to attend an International Conference on Hollywoodism that condemned the morality of the United States, promoted anti-Americanism, included an anti-Western sentiment, and "propagate[d] anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories including Holocaust denial".
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Contemporaneous with her graduation from GWU, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Monica Witt that she was a target of Iranian intelligence recruiting; Monica Witt assured US authorities she would not give sensitive information to Iran.
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From June 2012 through August 2013, Monica Witt was regularly communicating with an Iranian American; this individual held dual citizenship and acted in ways consistent with being an Iranian intelligence operative.
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Monica Witt attended another Hollywoodism conference at the Parsian Azadi Hotel in February 2013.
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From January 2014 through May 2015, Monica Witt used fraudulent Facebook accounts to investigate intelligence personnel and prepare "target packages" for Iran to use and attempt recruitment.
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Monica Witt gave Iran the classified true name and counterintelligence activities of a US Intelligence Community operative.
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In 2019, it was believed that Monica Witt was working with the cyberwarfare group Phosphorus.