A senior intelligence operative accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40m and hiding them at home remained in custody in Virginia on Friday after a judge pushed his first court appearance to next week. David Rush, a former executive service-level employee for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) , is alleged to have taken 303 bullion bars, each weighing 2.2lb (1kg), and more than $2m in foreign currency, from his government office, according to an eight-page FBI affidavit . He was arrested last week and charged with stealing public money after a search warrant executed at his home “in the eastern district of Virginia” also turned up 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolex.…