FBI Digging for Documents

July 28 -- Former Air Force intelligence officer Brian Regan, who was convicted of trying to spy for Saddam Hussein and China, buried thousands of pieces of potentially classified information at undisclosed locations in the Washington metropolitan region, sources told ABCNEWS.

The information includes more than 10,000 pages of documents, slides and videos — some of which pertain to satellites and early warning systems, according to sources.

This disclosure raises important questions about the security of supposedly secure U.S. institutions housing the nation's most sensitive secrets. Officials are scrambling to figure out how Regan got so much material out of government sites, the sources told ABCNEWS.

Regan worked for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which oversees the operation of the nation's spy satellites. Was it possible that he simply walked out of buildings with documents? Did he download the classified material from public, non-secure Web sites?

Regan, 40, was convicted in February of attempted espionage on behalf of Iraq and China. After a jury concluded he did not provide Iraq with documents concerning nuclear weapons, military satellites or war plans, Regan was spared the death penalty.

New Clues?

Officials are now reassessing his case. The discovery of the buried documents raises new questions about whether Regan passed along classified material.

Sources said the U.S. government stumbled on Regan's pack-rat ways. Last fall, Alexandria, Va., jail deputies confronted Regan about an odd collection of papers held together by toilet paper tubes and a pen. Regan quickly flushed the papers, which were apparently written in code, down the toilet.

About a month later, sources told ABCNEWS deputies discovered a map in Regan's cell, with designated sites. Ever since, the FBI has been hunting — and shoveling — for the buried documents.

The NRO is conducting investigations into Regan's activities during his employment. The probe focuses on determining the quality of the information he compromised and includes a damage assessment and determination on what type of security was or was not in place at the time Regan breached it. The office plans to publish a report with conclusions by the end of the year, an NRO spokesperson told ABCNEWS.