Former engineer convicted in CIA’s largest theft of classified information

Prosecutors said the leak, described as a “digital Pearl Harbor,” cost the agency “hundreds of millions of dollars” and “seriously harmed U.S. national security and directly endangered the lives of CIA personnel.”

Schulte was also accused of repeatedly lying to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his involvement as well as “spinning fake narratives” about how the information could have been obtained from CIA computers in an attempt to deflect suspicion.

A subsequent search of his New York apartment in March 2017 unearthed a stockpile of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) encompassing approximately 3,400 images and videos, some of which were collected during his employment with the CIA from the dark web and Russian websites.

During detention pending trial, he was found to have used contraband cell phones in jail to create anonymous, encrypted email, and social media accounts, and attempted to transmit protected discovery materials to WikiLeaks and publish classified information about CIA cyber techniques and tools.

Schulte’s goal, the DoJ said, quoting a journal maintained by him, was to “break up diplomatic relationships, close embassies, [and] end U.S. occupation across the world.”

James Smith, assistant director in charge of the FBI, said, “Joshua Schulte was appropriately punished not only for his betrayal of our country, but also for his substantial possession of horrific child pornography.” “The seriousness of his actions is clear, and the sentence imposed reflects the magnitude of the disturbing and harmful threat posed by his criminal conduct.”