Natalie Edwards

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Short description|Whistleblower; former senior United States Treasury official}}

{{COI|date=February 2022}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Natalie Edwards

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Natalie Mayflower Sours

| nationality =

| other_names = Dr. May Edwards

| citizenship =

| education = North Carolina Wesleyan College (B.S.)
Virginia Commonwealth University (M.Ed., Ph.D.){{cite web

| url = https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=vcucommence

| format = pdf

| title = VCU Fall Commencement Program 2007

| publisher = Virginia Commonwealth University

| access-date = September 25, 2020

}}

| occupation = Intelligence officer

| employer = United States Treasury
Central Intelligence Agency
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Virginia Commonwealth University
Chesterfield County Public Schools

| known_for = Disclosing suspicious activity reports (SARs) from October 2017 to October 2018 to BuzzFeed News some of which became the basis for the FinCEN Files and Pandora Papers

| spouse = John Edwards Jr.

| children = 1

| conviction = Unlawfully Disclosing A Suspicious Activity Report{{cite web

| url = https://courtlistener.com/docket/14533171/unite-states-v-edwards/

| format = url

| title = United States v. Edwards (1:19-cr-00064)

| publisher = Court Listener

| access-date = Feb 1, 2022

}}

| conviction_penalty = 6 months in prison and three years of supervised release{{cite web

| url = https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.509290/gov.uscourts.nysd.509290.100.0.pdf

| title = Judgement In A Criminal Case

| publisher = SDNY Judge Woods

| access-date = Feb 1, 2022

}}

}}

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards (born 1978) is a United States former senior official with the U.S. Department of the Treasury who was employed in the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).{{cite news|url=https://whistleblowersblog.org/government-whistleblowers/u-s-treasury-whistleblower-natalie-mayflower-sours-edwards-released-from-prison/amp/|title= U.S. Treasury Whistleblower Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards Released from Prison|date=January 25, 2022|last= Popovich|first=Ana|access-date=Feb 1, 2022}} Sarah Ellison of The Washington Post has called her "one of the most important whistleblowers of our era."{{cite news |last1=Ellison |first1=Sarah |author1-link=Sarah Ellison |title=How May Edwards became the forgotten whistleblower |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/may-edwards-treasury-buzzfeed-fincen-whistleblower/2021/07/07/28f5c1f8-da05-11eb-8fb8-aea56b785b00_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=February 9, 2022 |date=July 8, 2021}}

Edwards was arrested on October 16, 2018, for disclosing suspicious activity reports from October 2017 to October 2018 detailing Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election to a reporter with BuzzFeed News, which published the series "The Money Trail".{{cite news|title=The Money Trail|work=BuzzFeed News|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/collection/themoneytrail|access-date=October 19, 2018}}{{Cite news|last=Larkin|first=Emilee|date=3 June 2021|title=Document Leak Puts Ex-Treasury Official Away 6 Months|work=Courthouse News Service|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/document-leak-puts-ex-treasury-official-away-6-months/}} The SARs included money transfers and information about Maria Butina, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, the Russian Embassy in the United States, and a Russian firm, Prevezon Alexander, LLC., involved with money laundering.{{cite news|last=Flitter|first=Emily|date=October 17, 2018|title=Treasury Official Charged With Leaking Bank Reports to Journalist|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/business/treasury-leak-manafort.html|access-date=October 19, 2018}}{{cite web|date=January 31, 2019|title=Treasury official pleads not guilty in leaking case|url=https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/treasury-official-pleads-not-guilty-in-leaking-case|access-date=January 31, 2019|publisher=WDIV|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131093033/https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/treasury-official-pleads-not-guilty-in-leaking-case|url-status=dead}}

The Wall Street Journal identified the BuzzFeed News reporter as Jason Leopold. Edwards allegedly sent Leopold internal FinCEN emails, investigative memos and intelligence assessments, and the two were in regular contact.{{cite news|last1=Rebecca Davis O’Brien|first1=Aruna Viswanatha|date=17 October 2018|title=Treasury Official Charged With Leaking Sensitive Bank Information to Reporter|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-charges-treasury-adviser-with-leaking-suspicious-activity-reports-1539793225?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3|access-date=4 June 2020|quote=The BuzzFeed reporter, who isn’t identified in the charges, is recognizable as Jason Leopold, who was listed as an author on all 12 articles cited in the complaint.}} The New York Times characterized Edwards' case as procedurally different from that of James Wolfe, even though both cases involved leaking to reporters.{{cite news|last1=Emily Flitter|date=17 October 2018|title=Treasury Official Charged With Leaking Bank Reports to Journalist|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/business/treasury-leak-manafort.html|access-date=4 June 2020|quote=James A. Wolfe, denies that he distributed classified materials, and the Justice Department has not charged him with leaking information. The case against Dr. Edwards is different. Disclosing suspicious activity reports to anyone who is unauthorized to see them is against the law, and the reports seldom — if ever — make their way into the public domain. When questioned by investigators, Dr. Edwards did not deny having shared them}}

Edwards pled guilty in 2020, with a maximum sentence of up to five years.{{cite web|last=Re|first=Gregg|date=January 13, 2020|title=Ex-Treasury employee pleads guilty to leaking Trump team info, after dramatic bust with flash drive in hand|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/treasury-natalie-edwards-leaking-trump-documents-guilty-plea|publisher=Fox News}}{{cite web|date=January 13, 2020|title=Former Senior Fincen Employee Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Unlawfully Disclose Suspicious Activity Reports|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-senior-fincen-employee-pleads-guilty-conspiring-unlawfully--suspicious|publisher=United States Department of Justice}}

In June 2021, she was sentenced to serve six months in prison and three years of supervised release, {{cite web|title=Judgement In A Criminal Case|url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.509290/gov.uscourts.nysd.509290.100.0.pdf|access-date=Feb 1, 2022|publisher=SDNY Judge Woods}} a sentence on the higher end of the relevant federal sentencing guidelines. Throughout her sentencing hearing, Edwards maintained that she was acting as a whistleblower and that she did not disclose the suspicious activity report, with malicious intent.{{Cite news|last=Mack|first=David|date=3 June 2021|title=A Former Treasury Official Was Sentenced To 6 Months In Prison For Giving Documents To BuzzFeed News|work=BuzzFeed News|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/fincen-natalie-mayflower-sours-edwards-sentencing}}{{Cite news|last=Stempel|first=Jonathan|date=3 June 2021|title=Ex-Treasury employee gets prison for leaks on Trump campaign officials|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ex-treasury-employee-gets-prison-leaks-trump-campaign-officials-2021-06-03/}}{{Cite news|last=NEUMEISTER|first=Larry|date=3 June 2021|title=Ex-Treasury worker sentenced to 6 months in 'leak' case|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/dc-wire-donald-trump-government-and-politics-93161fcf10cc797b96731ba2ccc91d98}} Her counsel argued that she had gone through whistleblower channels and disclosed information only after she had been the subject of retaliation and believed that disclosing the information to the media would "help the American people", while prosecutors argued that "there has never been any substantive evidence of her claims" that she went through the proper internal channels and that Edwards lacked remorse for her decision to leak confidential information.

Edwards left prison in January 2022.{{cite web | url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/whistleblower-behind-fincen-files-investigation-released | title=The Whistleblower Behind the FinCEN Files Investigation Has Been Released from Prison | website=BuzzFeed News | date=January 25, 2022 }}