Former CIA programmer, Joshua Schulte, was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury Wednesday on charges of espionage for stealing U.S. cybersecurity secrets and providing them to WikiLeaks to get revenge on coworkers.
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The verdict came after four days of deliberations in a trial before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, ultimately deciding Schulte’s contention that he was an innocent bystander targeted as a scapegoat was invalid.
Schulte was convicted on nine criminal counts, including illegally garnering defense secrets, transmitting them to WikiLeaks and illegally covering his digital tracks in a course of espionage in 2016. He was also charged with sending classified information to a news reporter from a jail cell in 2018 after his bail was revoked in 2017.
In addition to eight espionage counts, Schulte was convicted of an obstruction count for misleading a 2017 grand jury investigating his actions. However, Judge Furman has indicated that he has “very serious doubts” about the viability of that particular count, stating he is likely to dismiss it.
In 2020, a jury convicted Schulte of deceiving the FBI and violating a court order forbidding him from transmitting information from his jail cell. But the jury deadlocked on espionage charges.
Both of Schulte’s trials featured evidence that exposed his anger when agency superiors refused to take his side in workplace disputes. Schulte left the CIA in late 2016, later vowing in jailouse writings to wage an “information war” against the agency.
Schulte was unable to convince the jury that he is “anti-leaker” and a patriotic American who was being asked to take the blame others’ actions.
Because Schulte faces other charges, including counts related to child pornography, Judge Furman did not immediately set a sentencing date. The judge did set a July 26 date for the parties to return to court.
In an official statement following the verdict, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Schulte has been found guilty in “one of the most brazen and damaging acts of espionage in American history” that put CIA assets at risk.
“When Schulte began to harbor resentment toward the CIA, he covertly collected those tools and provided them to WikiLeaks, making some of our most critical intelligence tools known to the public — and therefore, our adversaries,” Williams stated.
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