The U.S. government has accused a former executive of defense contractor L3Harris of stealing trade secrets and selling them to Russian buyers, according to court documents seen by TechCrunch.
On October 14, the Department of Justice charged Peter Williams with stealing eight trade secrets from two unnamed companies. The Justice Department made this argument in a “criminal information” document, which, like an indictment, represents a formal accusation of a crime.
The document does not reveal Williams’ relationship with the companies, the nature of the trade secrets, or the name of the alleged Russian buyer.
TechCrunch did not say where the Williams mentioned in the document worked, but confirmed that he is a former general manager of Trenchant, a division of L3Harris that develops hacking and surveillance tools for Western governments, including the United States.
Mr. Williams became general manager of Trenchint on October 23, 2024, and worked at Trenchint until August 21, 2025, according to UK company records. According to court documents, Williams was a 39-year-old Australian citizen who lived in Washington, D.C.
Four former Trenchant employees previously told TechCrunch that Williams, known within the company as “Doogie,” was arrested.
A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday that Williams is not currently in federal custody.
The Department of Justice charged Williams with stealing seven trade secrets between April 2022 and June 2025, and stealing an eighth trade secret between June 2025 and August 6.
According to criminal intelligence documents, the U.S. government alleges that Mr. Williams earned $1.3 million from the sale of trade secrets. As such, the Department of Justice is seeking to forfeit assets based on Williams’ alleged crimes.
inquiry
Do you have more information about this incident and the alleged leak of Trenchint’s hacking tools? You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely from a non-work device on Signal (+1 917 257 1382) or on Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email.
A spokesperson for L3Harris did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Williams’ attorney, John Lowery, declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch on Thursday.
The FBI and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Williams’ case is being prosecuted, did not respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday. (The U.S. government has been shut down since October 1st due to a lack of federal funding.)
The FBI declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch about Williams in September. The Australian Signals Directorate declined to comment as this is a law enforcement matter.
The arraignment and plea hearing are scheduled for October 29 in Washington, D.C.
In 2018, L3Harris acquired Azimuth and Linchpin Labs, two sister startups that developed zero-days, and later merged them to become Trenchant. The companies sold hacking tools to the so-called Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing group made up of the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Earlier this week, TechCrunch exclusively reported, citing four former Trenchant employees, that the company was investigating a leak of hacking tools.
A former Trenchant exploit developer told TechCrunch that he is suspected of leaking the tool, but denied any involvement.
The former developer said he had chosen Mr. Trenchent as a scapegoat for leaking tools that could exploit vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, and claimed that he did not have access to the tools because he was working on an iOS exploit. Three former employees said that Trenchent segregates what employees can access depending on which platform they are working on.
Sources corroborated the exploit developer’s account and said the company falsely accused a former employee.
It was not immediately clear whether this year’s breach investigation at Trentint is related to the federal charges against Williams.
The case against Mr. Williams is being prosecuted by the Counterintelligence and Export Control Division of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.
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