Ex-CIA Worker Gets 40 Years Behind Bars

(USNewsBreak.com) – Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks, a controversial site that publishes confidential documents and media provided by anonymous sources, in 2006. The United States is currently trying to prosecute Assange, but he’s not the only target. A court recently sentenced an ex-CIA employee following multiple convictions, one of which included a massive theft of secret information that he sent to WikiLeaks.

In 2016, prosecutors accused Joshua Adam Schulte of perpetrating the largest data breach in CIA history. He stole copies of the entire CCI tool development archives, which would become known as the “Stolen CIA Files.” To do so, he had to grant himself administrator privileges. According to the Department of Justice, Schulte accessed the network this way and then reverted the network after taking the files. It said he used anonymizing tools to transmit the data to WikiLeaks from his home computer, then wiped and reformatted its internal hard drives.

Former CIA employee sentenced to 40 years in prison over largest data breach in agency history, other charges https://t.co/e6rK5Fzn1y

— The Hill (@thehill) February 2, 2024

Schulte became a suspect when the controversial site started publishing data from the Stolen CIA Files the following year. Under questioning, he lied and spun tales about how it could have possibly happened to draw attention away from himself.

When he defended himself in New York City in 2022 on charges of eight counts in relation to stealing the CIA data, Schulte said the FBI and CIA made him the scapegoat for the leak. This conviction was his second. The first came in March 2020 for making materially false statements and contempt of court. In September 2023, a court found him guilty of “receiving, possessing, and transporting child pornography.”

For all of the charges against him, Schulte received a sentence of 40 years in jail on Thursday, February 1. If the prison releases him early, he’ll also become subject to a lifetime of supervised release.

The sentence pleased Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, who issued a statement saying, “Schulte severely harmed U.S. national security and directly risked [CIA] lives.” He and FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said the agencies worked steadfastly to bring Schulte to justice.