The MI6 spy found dead in a locked holdall in his bathtub had illegally accessed secret data relating to President Clinton, it has been claimed.
Gareth Williams, 31, accessed the guest list for an event that Mr Clinton was to attend and gave it to a friend as a favour, according to The Sun on Sunday. His superiors were furious when they discovered the breach, which prompted tensions with the US security services.
The spy, whose body was found in the holdall five years ago, worked at the government’s GCHQ monitoring centre and was on secondment to MI6. His death was recorded as unexplained by a coroner, who said it was probable that he had died alone in his flat. Evidence was heard that Williams practised contortionism and escapology.
“The Clinton diary hack came at a time when Williams’s work with America was of the most sensitive nature,” an unnamed source told The Sun on Sunday. “It was a diplomatic nightmare for Sir John Sawers, the new director of MI6 at the time.”
Another source told the tabloid that Mr Williams’s state of mind had been “worrying those closest to him”.