Leaked Classified Information To WikiLeaks, Ex-CIA Engineer Charged With Eight Espionage Charges And Sentenced

Memorial Wall in the lobby of CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia. (Wikimedia Commons/CIA photo)

JAKARTA - A former software engineer for the US intelligence agency CIA, was convicted of leaking classified information from a spy agency to WikiLeaks, in one of the biggest heists in CIA history, Wednesday.

A jury in Manhattan federal court has convicted Joshua Schulte, 33, of eight counts of espionage and one count of obstruction of justice for the so-called Vault 7 leak.

Schulte had represented himself at trial for a month. The jury began deliberating on Friday. The previous trial ended in a March 2020 annulment as the jurors were deadlocked on the main count.

"Today, Schulte has been convicted of one of the most daring and destructive acts of espionage in American history, in undermining US efforts to combat terrorist organizations and other nefarious influences around the world," US Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan said in a statement. July 14th.

The leaked material relates to software that the Central Intelligence Agency uses to monitor people outside the United States, through means such as harming smartphones and internet-connected TVs.

It is known, WikiLeaks began publishing the leaked material in March 2017.

The US Justice Department said Schulte, who resigned from the CIA in November 2016, was motivated to leak the material out of revenge because he was unhappy with the way management treated him.

Schulte who denied the accusations retaliated, he was framed and scapegoated for the leak, because of his problems with management.

He was originally arrested in August 2017 on unrelated charges, and has been in prison since bail was lifted four months later. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice announced the allegations related to WikiLeaks in June 2018.

It is known, last month, the British Home Secretary approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. He faces federal criminal charges in Virginia for his alleged role in publishing classified military documents in 2010.