The arrest of a former CIA officer with “top-secret clearance” for theft of government property, after $40 million worth of allegedly stolen gold bars were seized by the FBI from his Virginia home, has caused shockwaves.
What’s likely even more compromising is that he allegedly faked his background details about his educational degrees from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Many are asking how an organization like the CIA could get a top officer’s background check completely wrong.
But even as David Rush waits for his first court appearance Friday, some on social media are trying to paint a political link between David Rush and the Democratic Party. The links emerge from the reporting that Rush allegedly carried out the theft of government property between 2009 and 2026, till his arrest. Based on the year when the alleged theft started, claims are doing the rounds that Rush was appointed to the CIA when Barack Obama was the President.
Some posts even go on to call him a straight-out Democrat, even though CIA officials are strictly prohibited from being affiliated publicly with any party. The protocol, however, allows political activities at a personal level.
Also read: David Rush: 5 things on ex CIA officer caught with $40M gold at home for ‘work expenses’
Was David Rush Appointed By Obama?
According to the affidavit filed by the FBI, ex-CIA official David Rush carried out the alleged embezzlement between 2009 and May 2026. However, he likely did not join the CIA in 2009.
David Rush’s actual background shows that he enlisted in the US Navy in 1997. The allegations of faking his degrees stem from a 2004 transcript he submitted to the Navy of degrees from South Carolina’s Clemson University. But the FBI alleged that it was fake.
But Al Jazeera reports that David Rush was honorably discharged from the US Navy Reserves in 2015. The exact year when David Rush joined the CIA is unclear, but it was either in the last year of Obama or during Trump’s first tenure.
Also read: White House mocked for paying lengthy tribute to ‘legend’ Harambe, ‘This is the most insane thing…’
Charges Against David Rush
The allegations against David Rush were detailed in an affidavit filed by an FBI agent probing the case. It alleges that Rush stole and stashed “significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars” that he secured “for work-related expenses,” at his home. He reportedly procured them between November 2025 and March 2026.
The FBI had been probing him, but previous searches had not led to any breakthrough. However, all hell broke loose for Rush after a May 18 search at his home led to the FBI seizing 300 gold bars worth $40 million, 34 luxury watches and cash worth around $2 million. The affidavit against him was filed at a Virginia court on May 20.
He is charged with criminal theft of public money.
