A former CIA employee has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for carrying out the largest data breach in CIA history. The official worked for the CIA from 2012 to 2016 as a software engineer at the Cyber Intelligence Center, officials said. report This was announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Joshua Schulte, 35, was accused of leaking classified data to WikiLeaks in 2016 and was later found guilty in 2022 of illegally collecting and transmitting national defense information and obstructing a criminal investigation and grand jury proceedings. received the verdict.
USA Today report Mr. Schulte was convicted in a separate trial of espionage, child pornography, computer hacking, contempt of court, and making false statements to the FBI. Schulte’s sentencing occurred in New York federal court after three trials, which ended on March 9, 2020, July 13, 2022, and September 12, 2023, according to federal records.
“Joshua Schulte betrayed his country by committing one of the most brazen and heinous espionage crimes in American history,” said U.S. Attorney Damien Williams.
“He caused untold damage to our national security by seeking retaliation against the CIA for security violations during Mr. Schulte’s tenure,” Williams continued.
“Once the FBI captured Schulte, he redoubled his efforts to further harm this country by waging what he called an ‘information war’ by releasing top secret information from behind bars.”
“And all the while, Schulte collected thousands and thousands of videos and images of children being subjected to sickening abuse for his own personal gratification.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said:[t]Today, Joshua Schulte was rightly punished not only for his betrayal of our country, but also for his possession of large amounts of horrific child pornography material. ”
“The seriousness of his conduct is clear and the sentence imposed reflects the magnitude of the alarming and harmful threat posed by his criminal conduct.”
WikiLeaks was founded by Julian Assange on October 4, 2006.Since then, Assange serious criminal charges for releasing confidential government documents submitted to him anonymously. The journalist is currently being held at Belmarsh Prison in London.
The United States is seeking his extradition to face charges, but the case is being fought in British courts.
According to WikiLeaks’ X post, Schulte released documents suggesting the U.S. government was planning to assassinate Assange. The series of papers published by Schulte is known as “Vault 7.”
and other prominent journalists and activists. Glenn Greenwald and edward snowdenhas defended Assange and suggested that the government needs to be held accountable for its actions, especially those that are illegal.
They also argued that the United States was violating press freedom by pursuing people who published incriminating details about the federal government. Another whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, was later charged. pentagon papers In 1971.
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