A trial about the most damaging leak in the Central Intelligence Agency’s history has revealed that boorish bros created a human resources nightmare while developing computer code for cutting-edge cyber weapons. At the center of the rubber band battles, fist fights, Nerf gun wars and nasty disputes was CIA computer engineer Josh Schulte, his former agency colleagues and supervisors testified in Manhattan Federal Court, some using pseudonyms. Schulte, 31, is accused of leaking a trove of information on CIA hacking tools to Wikileaks. The anti-secrecy group posted the information in March 2017 revealing how the agency hacks cell phones, telephones and even cars to spy on people.
Prosecutors claim that Schulte soured on the CIA over its handling of an argument with a colleague identified as Amol. Schulte was no anti-surveillance crusader, authorities say, but instead a disgruntled employee out for revenge. Schulte and his workplace nemesis had nearby desks in a top secret nine-floor government building with highly-secure offices that were like vaults, according to testimony. Amol was a “troll” who once called Schulte a bald a hole, according to a CIA engineer, Jeremy Weber, who sat near the rival techies.
The pair traded barbs like I wish you were dead,I want to piss on your grave, I wish you’d die in a fiery crash and burn, oh I would be so happy and I only say I wish you’d die because I really wish it were true, Weber testified last week. Do you remember a comment that (Amol) made that he said, ‘you just suck at being a coder? Schulte’s attorney Sabrina Shroff asked. It would not surprise me that he said something like that, Weber replied. Schulte filed internal complaints alleging Amol threatened his life. He then sought a restraining order against Amol, spilling their CIA workplace squabble into state court.
Shroff has portrayed Schulte’s unit, the Engineering Development Group, as an out of control boys club. Josh hit me with a rubber band, I hit him back with a rubber band. This went back and forth until late at night. I hit him with a rubber band and then ran away before he could hit me back. He trashed my desk. I trashed his desk. And then I was backed up against Jeremy’s desk and Josh was looking at me, kind of coming towards me. And something came over me and I just hit him,” Schulte’s former colleague, Michael, testified on Wednesday.
Shroff argues that lax oversight and poor security measures call into question the investigators’ conclusion that Schulte illegally downloaded the secret data in March 2016, shortly before leaving the agency. One of Schulte’s supervisors, CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence Director Bonnie Stith, admitted on the stand she was unaware of the tech bro hi jinks.
