The US government has accused a former executive of 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 charged Peter Williams with stealing eight trade secrets from two unnamed companies. The Justice Department made the allegation in a “criminal intelligence” document, which, like an indictmentrepresents a formal charge of alleged crimes.
THE document it does not specify Williams’ relationship with the two companies or the types of trade secrets, nor does it name the alleged Russian buyer.
TechCrunch confirmed that the Williams named in the document, which did not specify where he worked, is the former general manager of Trenchant, a division of L3Harris that develops hacking and surveillance tools for Western governments, including the United States.
Williams became general manager of Trenchant on October 23, 2024 and worked at Trenchant until August 21, 2025. per UK business records. Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen, resided in Washington, DC, according to the court document.
Four former Trenchant employees previously told TechCrunch that Williams, who was known at the company as “Doogie,” had been arrested.
A Department of Justice spokesperson 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 an eighth trade secret between June and August 6, 2025.
According to the criminal intelligence document, the US government alleged that Williams made $1.3 million for selling the trade secrets. For this reason, the DOJ is seeking to seize Williams’ property derived from his alleged crimes.
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Do you have more information about this case and the alleged leak of Trenchant hacking tools? From a non-working device, Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai can be reached securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382 or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb or via email.
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 the District of Columbia, where Williams’ case is being prosecuted, did not respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday. (The U.S. government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after a federal funding crunch.)
When reached by TechCrunch in September about Williams, the FBI declined to comment. The Australian Trade Marks Directorate declined to comment as it is a law enforcement matter.
A trial and plea agreement hearing is scheduled for October 29 in Washington, DC
In 2018, L3Harris acquired Azimuth and Linchpin Labs, two sister startups who developed zero-days, which were later 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, the 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 suspicious 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 since he was working on developing iOS exploits. Three former employees said Trenchant separates what employees have access to depending on the platforms they work on.
Sources confirmed the exploit developer’s account and said the company unfairly blamed the former employee.
It was not immediately clear whether this year’s Trenchant spill investigation is related to the federal charge against Williams.
The case against Williams is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Division of National Security.
