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.
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 “criminal information” document, which, like an indictment, represents a formal accusation of alleged crimes.
The document does not specify Williams’ relationship with the two companies or the types of trade secrets, nor does it name the alleged Russian buyer.
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.
Williams became Trenchant’s general manager on October 23, 2024, and he worked at Trenchant until August 21, 2025, per U.K. business records. Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen, resided in Washington, D.C., according to the court document.
Four former Trenchant employees had previously told TechCrunch that Williams, who was known inside the company as “Doogie,” had been arrested.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday that Williams is not currently in federal custody.
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.
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’ property derived from his alleged crimes.
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A spokesperson for L3Harris did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Williams’ attorney John Rowley declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch on Thursday.
The FBI, and the U.S. District Court for District of Columbia, where Williams’ case is being prosecuted, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday. (The U.S. government has been shut down since October 1 following a lapse in federal funding.)
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.
An arraignment and plea agreement hearing is scheduled for October 29 in Washington, D.C.
In 2018, L3Harris acquired Azimuth and Linchpin Labs, two sister startups that developed zero-days, which then merged to become Trenchant. The two companies sold hacking tools to the so-called Five Eyes, an intelligence sharing group made up of the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Earlier this week, TechCrunch exclusively reported, citing four former Trenchant employees, that the company was investigating a leak of its hacking tools.
A former exploit developer at Trenchant told TechCrunch that they were suspected of leaking the tools, but denied any involvement.
The former developer said Trenchant scapegoated him for the leaks of tools capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, which he claimed he would not have had access to given that he worked on developing iOS exploits. Three former employees said that Trenchant compartmentalizes what employees get access to depending on what platforms they work on.
Sources corroborated the exploit developer’s account and said that the company wrongly accused the former employee.
It’s not immediately clear if this year’s leak investigation at Trenchant is related to the federal accusation against Williams.
The case against Williams is being prosecuted by the DOJ National Security Division’s section on Counterintelligence and Export Control.
