Ex-CIA engineer gets 40-year sentence for leaking secrets to WikiLeaks
What's the story
On Thursday, Joshua Schulte (35), an ex-software engineer from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was sentenced to 40 years behind bars.
This comes after his convictions in trials in March 2020, July 2022, and September 2023.
Schulte was found guilty of various crimes, including espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, lying to the FBI, and child pornography.
Department of Justice (DOJ) called his transfer of stolen data toWikiLeaks, one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of classified information in US history.
Leak details
The 2017 leak was the largest in CIA's history
The information stolen by Schulte from the CIA, began showing up in 2017 on the website WikiLeaks.
Over eight months, the website released nearly two dozen sets of classified documents under the names Vault 7 and Vault 8.
The documents detailed the covert techniques employed by the US to infiltrate computer networks utilized by foreign governments and terrorist organizations.
The government deemed these revelations a "catastrophic" harm to national security, triggering a thorough investigation to identify the individual accountable.
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Schulte repeatedly lied during post-leak interviews
According to the prosecutor, Schulte habitually lied during interviews conducted after the major leak, consistently denying any participation in the breach.
Additionally, they noted that he fabricated false narratives about potential scenarios in an effort to divert suspicion away from himself.
Schulte also caused further harm by publishing top-secret information from prison and collecting/transporting thousands of child abuse videos/images for personal pleasure.
Effect
Vault 7, 8 disclosures caused grave harm to national security
The leaked CIA data surfaced on WikiLeaks in 2017, and totaled 26 disclosures of classified information.
DOJ claimed that Schulte's theft and disclosure "immediately and profoundly damaged the CIA's ability to collect foreign intelligence against America's adversaries; placed CIA personnel, programs, and assets directly at risk; and cost the CIA hundreds of millions of dollars."
They also stated that the leak caused "exceptionally grave harm to the national security of the United States."
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Actions described as "digital Pearl Harbor"
During a trial, a former CIA Deputy Director of Digital Innovation likened the leak to "digital Pearl Harbor."
Prosecutors accused Schulte of stealing the entire Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI) tool development archives, and deleting hundreds of files to cover his tracks before sending them to WikiLeaks.
Schulte was moved from CCI to another division in 2016 after being caught abusing his administrator powers.
WikiLeaks initiated the publication of classified data sourced from the pilfered CIA files the following year.
Insights
Schulte betrayed his country: US Attorney
The US Attorney for New York's Southern District, Damian Williams said that Schulte "betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history."
He also stated that Schulte "caused untold damage to our national security in his quest for revenge against the CIA for its response to Schulte's security breaches while employed there."
"He (Schulte) will spend 40 years behind bars — right where he belongs," said Williams.