In a landmark decision, former CIA officer Joshua Schulte has been handed a 40-year prison sentence for the unauthorized disclosure of a significant cache of classified hacking tools to Wikileaks. The sentencing also includes charges related to the possession of explicit material involving minors.
Schulte, 35, faced accusations of leaking the CIA’s “Vault 7” tools in 2017, a collection enabling intelligence agents to hack smartphones and utilize them as covert listening devices. The United States Department of Justice described this leak as one of the most audacious in the nation’s history, involving the transmission of 8,761 documents to Wikileaks, constituting the largest data breach in the CIA’s annals.
Despite vehemently denying these allegations, Schulte was convicted across multiple counts in three separate federal trials held in New York in 2020, 2022, and 2023. His charges encompassed espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and the possession of explicit material involving minors.
US Attorney Damian Williams remarked, “Joshua Schulte betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history.”
Evidence presented during the trials indicated that Schulte, frustrated by work-related challenges and a nickname earned due to missed deadlines, sought revenge against perceived wrongdoers within the organization. Prosecutors contended that this act of revenge resulted in severe damage to national security.
The leaked information, published by Wikileaks in 2017, had an immediate and profound impact on the CIA’s ability to gather foreign intelligence, jeopardizing personnel, programs, and assets while incurring substantial financial losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The FBI interviewed Schulte multiple times following the publication by Wikileaks, during which he consistently denied any involvement in the leak. Subsequent searches of his apartment uncovered tens of thousands of explicit images involving minors.
Furthermore, prosecutors revealed that, following his arrest, Schulte attempted to transmit more classified information. He clandestinely introduced a phone into his jail cell, endeavoring to share details about CIA cyber groups with a journalist. Additionally, he drafted tweets under the alias “Jason Bourne,” a fictional intelligence operative, disclosing information about CIA cyber tools.
Joshua Schulte has been in custody since 2018, and his sentencing marks a significant chapter in the legal repercussions surrounding unauthorized disclosure of classified information. As the justice system takes a firm stance, it underscores the severity of such breaches and their far-reaching consequences for national security.
