- The former wife of Anne McClain, a NASA astronaut, was charged with making false statements to federal authorities, the Justice Department said.
- In her initial complaint, Summer Worden claimed that McClain, whom she married in 2014 and later filed for divorced, had improperly accessed her bank account.
- Authorities say that the dates of Worden's initial allegations did not add up.
- Worden reportedly said she was surprised by the charges and that she mistakenly provided investigators with the wrong dates.
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The former wife of US Army Lt. Col. Anne McClain, a NASA astronaut, was charged with two counts of making false statements to federal authorities, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Former Air Force intelligence officer Summer Worden was charged with filing a false complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and making false statements during an interview with NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) in 2019.
In her initial complaint, Worden claimed that McClain, whom she married in 2014 and later filed for divorced in 2018, had improperly accessed her bank account.
Worden, who previously shared her online bank accounts with McClain, claimed that she opened a new bank account and reset her account's information to prevent others from accessing it in September 2018.
Worden alleged that McClain had accessed her bank account until January 2019, while she was on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. If the allegations are true, it would mark the first time a crime was committed in space.
In a previous complaint, Worden's parents reportedly alleged McClain accessed the account as part of a "highly calculated and manipulated campaign" for the custody of Worden's then-6-year-old son, who was born before they married.
But authorities say that Worden opened her new account five months prior to her claimed date, and that she "did not change her login credentials until January 2019."
Worden told The New York Times that she was surprised by the charges. She added that she mistakenly provided investigators with the wrong dates and had later corrected herself.
"I didn't misrepresent anything," she reportedly said.
McClain's attorney said that their client did use the account amid the ongoing divorce procedures, with Worden's knowledge, in order to keep their finances in order, according to The Times. McClain added that Worden had never told her the bank account was not to be accessed, and that she had used the same password she was using during their relationship.
In a tweet in 2019, McClain said "there's unequivocally no truth to these claims."
"We've been going through a painful, personal separation that's now unfortunately in the media," McClain said. "I appreciate the outpouring of support and will reserve comment until after the investigation."
Worden could face up to five years in prison for each charge and a possible $250,000 maximum fine if convicted, the Justice Department said.