Former CIA employee charged with leaking classified info
By Ray Downs (upi.com) / June 19 2018
June 19 (UPI) — A former CIA employee has been charged with leaking classified information, the Justice Department announced on Monday.
Joshua Schulte, 29, was indicted on 13 counts in connection with alleged theft of classified national defense information from the CIA and transmitting it to an outside organization.
Several news reports indicate that organization was Wikileaks.
“As alleged, Schulte utterly betrayed this nation and downright violated his victims,” Asst. Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement. “As an employee of the CIA, Schulte took an oath to protect this country, but he blatantly endangered it by the transmission of Classified Information.”
Schulte is also charged with possessing child pornography, which prosecutors say was found by federal agents when they raided his New York City apartment last August.
“To further endanger those around him, Schulte allegedly received, possessed, and transmitted thousands of child pornographic photos and videos,” Sweeney said. “In an effort to protect this nation against crimes such as these, the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York will continue to keep our mission at the forefront of our investigations in protecting the American public.”
Schulte is suspected of leaking the “Vault 7” documents, which revealed the CIA’s ability to hack into a wide range of electronic devices, including smartphones and smart televisions.
He previously worked at the CIA’s Engineering Development Group, which produced malware to break into computers of terror suspects and other targets.
