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The U.S. government has accused a former executive at defense contractor L3Harris of stealing trade secrets and selling them to a buyer in Russia, according to court documents seen by TechCrunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On October 14, the Department of Justice accused Peter Williams of stealing eight trade secrets from two unnamed companies. The DOJ made the allegation in a \u201ccriminal information\u201d document, which, like an indictment<\/a>, represents a formal accusation of alleged crimes. \u00a0<\/p>\n The document<\/a> <\/strong>does not specify Williams\u2019 relationship with the two companies, specify the types of trade secrets, nor name the alleged Russian buyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n TechCrunch has confirmed that the Williams mentioned in the document, which does not specify where he worked, is the former general manager at Trenchant, a division of L3Harris that develops hacking and surveillance tools for Western governments, including the United States. \u00a0<\/p>\n Williams became Trenchant\u2019s general manager on October 23, 2024, and he worked at Trenchant until August 21, 2025, per U.K. business records<\/a>. Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen, resided in Washington D.C., according to the court document. \u00a0<\/p>\n Four former Trenchant employees had previously\u00a0told TechCrunch that Williams, who was known inside the company as \u201cDoogie,\u201d\u00a0had been arrested. \u00a0<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday that Williams is not currently in federal custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n The DOJ accused Williams of stealing seven trade secrets between April 2022 and June 2025, and the eighth trade secret between June and August 6, 2025. <\/p>\n According to the criminal information document, the U.S. government alleged Williams made $1.3 million for the sale of the trade secrets. For that reason, the DOJ seeks to forfeit Williams\u2019 property derived from his alleged crimes. \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\tDo you have more information about this case, and the alleged leak of Trenchant hacking tools? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or by email<\/a>.<\/a> \t\t<\/div>\n A spokesperson for L3Harris did not respond to a request for comment by press time. \u00a0<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 attorney John Rowley declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The FBI, and the U.S. District Court for District of Columbia, where Williams\u2019 case is being prosecuted, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday.\u00a0(The U.S. government has been shut down since October 1 following a lapse in federal funding.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When reached by TechCrunch in September regarding Williams, the FBI declined to comment. The Australian Signals Directorate declined to comment as this is a matter for law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n An arraignment and plea agreement hearing is scheduled for October 29 in Washington D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2018, L3Harris acquired<\/a>\u00a0Azimuth and Linchpin Labs,\u00a0two sister startups<\/a>\u00a0that developed zero-days, which then merged to become Trenchant. The two companies sold hacking tools to the so-called Five Eyes,\u00a0an intelligence sharing group made up of the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\nContact Us<\/h4>\n