David J. Rush, the former C.I.A. officer found last month with $40 million in gold bars in his home and now under F.B.I. investigation, had powerful friends in government. It turns out that one of them, Stephen A. Feinberg, the deputy secretary of defense, even contacted the C.I.A. earlier this year asking to work more closely with him.
Before the C.I.A. fired Mr. Rush, he and Mr. Feinberg worked together on a highly classified program focused on spying on China, according to the current and former officials. Mr. Feinberg reached out to a senior agency official, pushing for Mr. Rush to play a greater role in the classified program.
Mr. Feinberg did not know about the criminal investigation of Mr. Rush when he reached out to the agency, according to U.S. officials. But Mr. Feinberg’s advocacy for Mr. Rush demonstrates how trusted Mr. Rush was with secrets known to only a small group of American officials at the same time that court documents show he may have been defrauding the C.I.A. of millions of dollars.
At the request of U.S. government officials, The New York Times is withholding some details about the spying program that Mr. Feinberg and Mr. Rush worked on because of the sensitive nature of the operation.
Mr. Feinberg and Mr. Rush have known each other at least since Mr. Feinberg was the head of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board during President Trump’s first term.
Mr. Rush was an officer in the C.I.A.’s Directorate of Science and Technology, a branch of the spy agency that Mr. Feinberg — the co-founder of Cerberus Capital, a private equity firm — took a particular interest in when he ran the advisory board. The board advises the White House and spy agencies on intelligence collection and other matters.
People briefed on the investigation said Mr. Feinberg reached out to the C.I.A. on behalf of Mr. Rush in late March or early April.
It is unclear how quickly the C.I.A. told the Defense Department or the interagency group Mr. Rush worked on about the investigation. Once officials learned about the investigation, Mr. Rush was no longer included in Pentagon meetings.
Officials close to Mr. Feinberg have downplayed their connection in recent weeks. Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, said earlier this month that reports about the ties between Mr. Feinberg and Mr. Rush were “completely false and embellished.”
“Deputy Secretary Feinberg never supported Mr. Rush’s career at any point in his life, nor did he endorse Mr. Rush for any career position,” Mr. Parnell said.
The C.I.A. declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal investigation. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Feinberg’s request to the agency.
Mr. Rush began accumulating $40 million in gold bars based on a fake classified program he created, according to court documents. That program, on paper, was related to a project regarding “the continuity of government operations,” people briefed on the matter said. No such project actually existed.
The episode is now the subject of an investigation by the White House Office of Management and Budget, according current and former American officials.
Mr. Rush briefed or “read in” two other C.I.A. employees about his fake program. Because it was highly classified, those employees were prohibited from discussing it. One of the officials was the person who approved the transfer of gold bars, the money that eventually ended up in Mr. Rush’s home.
It is unclear whether there is any connection between Mr. Rush’s fake program and the highly classified China spying operation that Mr. Rush worked on with Mr. Feinberg and his aides.
The only charge lodged against Mr. Rush is that he inflated his academic credentials and obtained military leave pay worth tens of thousands of dollars. The authorities say he falsely claimed to be a member of the Navy Reserve when he was discharged.
In court papers, the government accused Mr. Rush of inflating his academic credentials and lying about his work history.
But the legal action against Mr. Rush raised far more questions than it answered.
From last November to March, according to the court papers, Mr. Rush asked for, and received, tens of millions of dollars in gold bars and foreign currency for “work-related expenses.”
When the C.I.A. conducted a review of where the gold and currency were stashed, the agency was unable to locate them, according to court papers.
Alerted by the C.I.A., the F.B.I. searched Mr. Rush’s home in March and found 303 gold bars, along with approximately $2 million and several dozen luxury watches.
