Looks like he was doing his patriotic duty.”Thiel's reporting to the FBI was largely limited to foreign contacts and attempts by foreign governments to penetrate Silicon Valley.”

Not uncommon in rest of the world. Once upon a time, it was American journalists who enthusiastically did this:

1. C.I.A. Established Many Links To Journalists in U.S. and Abroad: https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/27/archives/cia-established-...

2. Correspondence and collusion between the New York Times and the CIA: https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/29/corres...