State Department employee charged with lying to FBI

WASHINGTON — A veteran State Department employee has been charged with making false statements to the FBI about gifts she had received from Chinese intelligence agents, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

A criminal complaint accuses Candace Marie Claiborne, who appeared before a judge Wednesday, of concealing her contacts with the intelligence agents and failing to report gifts she had received from them, including an iPhone, a laptop and international travel.

Claiborne, 60, was arrested Tuesday. Family members who were in court declined to comment on her behalf.

Prosecutors say two intelligence agents provided Claiborne, who joined the State Department in 1999 and served in different overseas location, and her family with thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits over five years.

The Justice Department alleges that she wrote in her journal that she could “generate 20k in 1 year” through her work with one of the intelligence agents.

Claiborne pleaded not guilty and faces a preliminary hearing April 18.

“As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency,” U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips said in a statement. “This case demonstrates that U.S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments.”