David J. Rush was arrested last week and charged with the theft of public funds after sheriffs searched his home and found 303 gold bars worth $40 million along with a pile of Rolex watches and $2 million in cash.
According to the FBI affidavit, from November 2025 to March 2026, Rush requested and received large amounts of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for "work‑related expenses."
When the FBI went to the storage space Rush had at his office, only a small part of the total he had withdrawn was there. They then searched his home, where they found the gold bars, 35 Rolex watches, and cash.
At the time of his arrest, Rush had a Top Secret and was a senior official at the CIA.
However, like all crooks and liars, Rush also lied about literally everything that got him to a place where he could access that gold, cash, foreign currency, and even a bigger paycheck.
Rush enlisted in the Navy in 1997. In 2004, he told the Navy he had earned a degree from Clemson University, qualifying him for a promotion and more pay. He was honorably (!!!) discharged from the Navy Reserves as a Lieutenant in 2015.
In March 2006, he applied for a job (presumably with the CIA, though the affidavit doesn't specify) claiming he held a Bachelor's degree from Clemson and a Master's Degree in Computing Technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as well as an undated Master of Science in Computing Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.
In November 2006, he said he had a Bachelor's from Clemson and a Master's in Electrical Engineering with no reference to the Naval Postgraduate School degree.
In 2009, he applied for a third time, listing the two degrees from his November 2006 application along with an undated Aircraft Test and Evaluation certification from the United States Naval Test Pilot School.
He was hired by the CIA in 2009. But wait! There's more! Isn't there always more?
In 2018, he wanted a promotion to Senior Executive Service level, so he padded his resumé a bit more, stating he was a graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, and he was the current Director of Test for a 145-person, 18-aircraft joint Army/Navy weapons test organization. In this same application, Rush said he had an eleven-year tenure as a Thesis/Dissertation advisor at the Air Force Institute of Technology.
You know what's coming, right? That's right. There's no record of any military service beyond 2015 in the Navy, there are no records of ANY college degrees or Rush even attending those colleges.
This is the guy that John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, authorized to receive millions in gold bars and foreign currency. George Santos of the CIA with a Top Secret security clearance.
And THAT begs the question: What did they think he was going to do with all of that money? Who did they think he was going to pay off? What possible "work related expenses" would he have that would be paid in gold bars and Rolex watches?
How are background checks so lax that he would get a job at the CIA with fake degrees, get promoted with more fake degrees and claims, and be allowed to possess that much loot while also bilking $77,000 in military pay out of the Navy for which he was never entitled?
Inquiring minds want to know.
[h/t Washington Post]
