Yet Another U.S. Navy Officer Goes Down Over Prostitutes and Corruption
The Navy can’t control its officers
by MATTHEW GAULT
The U.S. Navy held a preliminary hearing to review criminal charges against one of its officers on Friday. According to a redacted report obtained by USNI News, investigators suspect the seaman of two counts of espionage and three counts of attempted espionage.
The Navy didn’t release the name of the officer but sources close to the investigation identified the accused as Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin.
Lin was a tremendous source of pride for the Navy. He emigrated to the United States from Taiwan at the age of 14 and naturalized in 2008. The young man struggled in school but persevered, learned English, joined the Navy and rose through its ranks.
The once-bright Navy star now stands accused of giving state secrets to China. He was in a good position to do so. Lin was a signals intelligence officer overseeing the operation of MQ-4C Triton spy drones as well as P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon spy planes.
The charge sheet doesn’t explain how China got Lin to allegedly turn over secrets, but the last two paragraphs are telling. After the laundry list of espionage charges, which include Lin lying about travel to a foreign country, the Navy accused Lin of adultery and wrongfully procuring a “[redacted] to engage in acts of sexual intercourse for hire and reward.”
For 25 years Glenn Defense Marine Asia provided ship husbanding services to the most powerful navy on the planet — America’s Pacific Fleet. Under the direction of millionaire playboy “Fat” Leonard Glenn Francis, GDMA became the fleet’s sole provider of ship-handling services in the South Pacific.
While doing business with the Navy, Fat Leonard bilked the American taxpayer out of hundreds of millions of dollars. He kept investigators off his back through an elaborate system of bribes. The Malaysian playboy paid off Navy officers with cash, hookers and, once, Lady Gaga tickets. At his height Fat Leonard’s payroll included a Navy commander, a slew of petty officers and even an NCIS agent.
Lin’s case is just another in a long line of Pentagon corruption and behavior scandals that stretch back as early as 1986, when Operation Ill Wind took down more than 90 corrupt politicians, defense contractors and military officials.
The story of how the Taiwan-born signals intelligence officer came to allegedly trade secrets to China for cash and whores is just beginning. One thing’s pretty certain — he won’t be the last seaman caught with his pants down.
