He had worked as a computer engineer at the CIA’s Cyber Intelligence Center and created cyber tools that could capture data undetected by computers. Schulte defended himself at trial. A previous trial ended in a hung jury in 2020. Schulte had access to “some of the nation’s most valuable cyber intelligence tools used to fight terrorist organizations and other malign influences around the world,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement on Wednesday. “When Schulte became resentful of the CIA, he secretly gathered these tools and provided them to WikiLeaks, making some of our most critical intelligence tools known to the public — and by extension, to our adversaries,” Williams said. . Schulte’s issues at the CIA began in the summer of 2015, when he began feuding with management and a colleague, eventually filing a restraining order against the colleague in state court, court records show. Schulte and the colleague were both transported as a result of the altercation. Investigators alleged that Schulte became enraged when CIA officials wanted to hire a contractor to build a cyber tool similar to the one he was building, prosecutors said. A year later, investigators said Schulte stole cyber tools and source code and transferred them to WikiLeaks, according to court records. He then tried to cover his tracks by erasing all traces of access to the computer system, prosecutors said. Schulte resigned from the CIA in November 2016. But in March 2017, WikiLeaks published the first installment of the Vault 7 leaks, which came from two programs Schulte had access to, court records show. WikiLeaks issued a news release to accompany the information, saying the data was provided anonymously by a source who wanted to raise policy questions, specifically about whether the CIA had overstepped its hacking capabilities and overstepped its authority. Schulte, who also allegedly lied to CIA and FBI investigators to cover his tracks, was arrested in August 2017 on child pornography charges. He was indicted on the charges related to the data breach months later. “Sulte knew that the collateral damage of his retaliation could pose an extraordinary threat to this nation if made public, rendering them essentially useless, having a devastating effect on our intelligence community by providing critical information to those who want to harm us.” Williams added Wednesday. “Today, Schulte was convicted of one of the most brazen and destructive acts of espionage in American history.” CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
