Dennis Cuspert was a German national turned ISIS fighter. Photo/YouTube
Dennis Cuspert was a German national turned ISIS fighter. Photo/YouTube
The FBI is red-faced after a translator assigned to spy on an Islamic State operative fell in love with the rapper-turned-jihadist and married him in secret in Syria.
CNN reported the rogue employee, Daniela Greene, 38, had top-secret security clearance when she was asked to work in an "investigative capacity" in January 2014 on the case of a German rapper-turned-ISIS spokesman, Denis Cuspert, according to news.com.au.
Before Cuspert became a front man for jihadists, he rapped under the name Deso Dogg in Germany. Videos of the one-time musician show him on bloody battlefields and threatening former President Barack Obama.
He later changed his name to Abu Talha al-Almani when he moved to Syria.
His growing influence as an online recruiter for violent jihadists put him on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities on two continents.
After months of tracking Cuspert's communications, Greene travelled to Syria to marry him, unbeknown to the FBI.
But in the weeks after they were wed, CNN said Greene realised her mistake and fled back to the US, where she was immediately arrested and agreed to co-operate with authorities.
In an email released in Federal Court documents by CNN, Greene sent emails to an unidentified person in the US showing she was having second thoughts about her decision.
"I was weak and didn't know how to handle anything anymore," she wrote on July 8. "I really made a mess of things this time."
On the following day, she wrote: "I am gone and I can't come back. I wouldn't even know how to make it through, if I tried to come back. I am in a very harsh environment and I don't know how long I will last here, but it doesn't matter, it's all a little too late ..."
Greene moved to Syria to marry the ISIS spokesman. Photo/News Corp Australia
She pleaded guilty to making false statements involving international terrorism and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. She was released last summer.
Other court documents showed Greene lied to FBI employers about where she was going - claiming she was visiting her parents in Munich, Germany - and tipped off her new husband about the investigation.
The documents also stated she used online tools such as Skype to get close to Cuspert.
Greene's story was initially kept secret when she first returned from Syria after a federal court sealed most of the documents pertaining to her case.
Prosecutors asked the judge to unseal some of the documents after they finished dealing with Greene.
The Pentagon said Cuspert was killed in an air strike in October 15, near the northern Syrian city of Raqqah.
The war against ISIS continues in Syria. Photo/News Corp Australia
"It's a stunning embarrassment for the FBI, no doubt about it," John Kirby, a former State Department official told CNN.
Most westerners trying to go to an Isis region in Syria risk "getting their heads cut off," he added.
"So for her to be able to get in as an American, as a woman, as an FBI employee and to be able to take up residence with a known ISIS leader, that all had to be co-ordinated."
In a statement to CNN, the FBI said as a result of Greene's case it "took several steps in a variety of areas to identify and reduce security vulnerabilities. The FBI continues to strengthen protective measures in carrying out its vital work."
The FBI did not identify what steps were taken and declined further comment.
