Prosecutors say Joshua Schulte leaked categorized info due to a office dispute; he says he's being framed.
United States prosecutors are making the case that a former CIA coder shared categorized info with the web site WikiLeaks after a private dispute with a colleague. The previous coder, 33-year-old Joshua Schulte, has mentioned he's being framed.
Schulte’s trial started on Tuesday at a federal courtroom in Manhattan, the place he faces prices that embrace acquiring categorized US authorities info with out authorisation and illegally passing that knowledge on to WikiLeaks. His first trial, which occurred in 2020, got here to an finish with the jury deadlocked over the primary prices.
Prosecutor David Denton mentioned in his opening assertion that Schulte obtained software program in 2016 utilized by the CIA to focus on overseas international locations, then despatched that knowledge to WikiLeaks, which posted it in 2017. WikiLeaks has turn into well-known for publishing categorized US info on a variety of subjects, together with potential US battle crimes.
The Reuters information company reported that Denton known as Schulte’s alleged actions the “final act of betrayal” and mentioned that he was motivated by spite for CIA administration and different employees in his unit.
Schulte, representing himself, has mentioned that the CIA and FBI selected him as a scapegoat for an embarrassing leak due to earlier disagreements with administration. Schulte left the CIA in 2016.
“The CIA needed to save face, they confronted large political strain to establish the leaker,” Schulte advised jurors.
“The FBI merely labored backwards from me as their chosen patsy.”
US District Decide Jesse Furman will oversee the trial, which is predicted to go on for about 5 weeks and embrace testimony from clandestine CIA officers.
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