Ex-CIA employee's conviction in big secrets leak is largely upheld

A former Central Intelligence Agency software engineer, Joshua Schulte, has had an obstruction charge thrown out by a U.S. judge while his conviction for the largest theft of classified information in the agency’s history has been mostly upheld. Schulte, aged 34, was found guilty in July 2022 of four counts each of espionage and computer hacking, as well as one count of lying to FBI agents, for giving classified materials to WikiLeaks in the Vault 7 leak. The leaked materials, published by WikiLeaks in March 2017, revealed the CIA’s surveillance techniques on foreign governments and individuals.

The conviction was described by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams as “one of the most brazen and damaging acts of espionage in American history.” However, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan threw out the obstruction charge while supporting the espionage and hacking convictions in his 14-page decision. Furman found that Schulte’s alleged lies to FBI agents did not meet the requirements for an obstruction charge. He referenced a 1995 Supreme Court decision, U.S. v. Aguilar, which reached a similar conclusion.

Schulte represented himself during the trial and in his attempt to overturn the conviction. A previous trial resulted in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. Prosecutors argued that Schulte leaked the materials out of spite over his perceived mistreatment by the CIA before his resignation in November 2016. Schulte is currently incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

In addition to his current conviction, Schulte is facing another trial set to begin on September 11. He is accused of possessing over 10,000 images and videos of child pornography. Prosecutors discovered the material in an encrypted container, protected by three layers of password, during the investigation into the CIA leaks. A lawyer representing Schulte in this case has not commented yet, while Williams’ office declined to provide a comment.

The case is identified as U.S. v. Schulte, and it is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)