from Hacker News

Ex-CIA Coder Who Sent Secrets to WikiLeaks Gets 40 Years

by michalu on 2/2/24, 11:42 AM with 18 comments

• by taraharris on 2/2/24, 2:43 PM

  I remember reading about this case a few years ago (so I don't have a link). The article said the CSAM was the result of many of the employees in the CIA pranking each other. I am inclined to see this as a selective prosecution that benefits the CIA at the expense of the public interest.

  The secrecy they operate under inherently shields them from accountability. We have allowed our constitutional system to be usurped, to have a watcher free from the oversight of an effective watcher (i.e., the public or even its representatives).

• by hpenvy on 2/2/24, 3:43 PM

  'Furman said Schulte continued his crimes from behind bars by trying to leak more classified materials and by creating a hidden file on his computer that contained 2,400 images of child sexual abuse that he continued to view from jail."

  I wonder how he had so much access to technology and his own files while behind bars? I'm not inclined to believe this is false and even if the CSAM is part of a CIA prank (as someone else suggested here), this part of the case would still be quite illegal.

• by alexfromapex on 2/2/24, 2:32 PM

  Only people exposing the crimes go to jail…

• by nielsbot on 2/2/24, 5:55 PM

  from the article, it doesn’t sound like this guy is exactly like other leakers who leak on moral grounds. This guy did it for revenge against the government. He also showed no remorse for either the child pornography or the leaking so that’s probably why he ended up with a 40 year sentence.