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Schulte CIA Leak Case US Will Go to Grand
Jury When Can As Judge Crotty Wonders When
Trials
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Thread Song
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
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Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 18 – In the conclusion of
the month long trial of
accused CIA leaker Joshua
Schulte, on the morning of
March 9 the jury returned
guilty verdicts on Counts 8
and 10, with mistrial granted
on all other counts. U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Paul A. Crotty set March
26 for the next date.
Then it was moved to April 22
(then May 18). March 9 thread
here.
Song here.
On May 18,
Judge Crotty held a status
conference, which Inner City
Press covered.
Assistant
US Attorney David Denton said,
The Government intends to
re-try Mr. Schulte on the
espionage charges, based on
the notes we received from the
jury. And we intend to move
forward on the child
pornography charges.
Judge
Crotty said, It's difficult to
predict when thing will return
to normal. Are there are grand
juries?
AUSA
Denton replied, They are being
brought in on an emergency
basis.
Judge
Crotty asked, And Mr Schulte
is not an emergency?
AUSA
Denton said, No, he has
already been charged.
Schulte's
lawyer Sabrina Shroff asked,
What does it mean, brought in
on emergency basis?
AUSA
Denton said, On Mr. Schulte,
we plan to proceed as soon as
normal grand jury operations
have resumed.
Judge
Crotty said, That won't occur
until later in Summer...
It's my information no jury
trials until September at the
earliest.
Sabrina
Shroff said, Mr Schulte I
believe would say a grand jury
is needed now, he wants the
case to proceed.
Judge
Crotty reflected, As I
remember, many of our jurors
were from Westchester County.
So, a transportation problem.
AUSA Denton
offered, The second trial
could be shorter, we will
streamline.
Judge
Crotty proposed, Let's
reconvene mid to late June.
Anything else?
AUSA
Denton moved, Let's exclude
time under the Speedy Trial
Act.
Judge
Crotty asked, Any objection?
Sabrina
Shroff said, I think Mr
Schulte does have an
objection.
Judge
Crotty ruled, Motions are
pending, so I am excluding
time, in the interest of
justice outweigh the interests
of the public and defendant in
a speedy trial.
Schulte
has filed a Motion of
Acquittal. Here's the outline:
"The Court should
enter a judgment of acquittal
on Count Six because the
general federal larceny
statute, 18 U.S.C. § 641, does
not apply to Mr. Schulte’s
alleged gathering and leaking
of classified information
...................... 2 A.
Rule 29 requires acquittal if
no rational jury could have
properly convicted the
defendant of the charged
crime..........................
2 B. Acquittal is required
because no rational jury could
have properly convicted Mr.
Schulte of violating 18 U.S.C.
§
641..........................
3 1. Section 641’s text,
context, and history do not
support applying it to Mr.
Schulte’s alleged copying and
disclosure of classified
information. . 3 2. Section
641 should be construed
narrowly to avoid serious
constitutional
problems.......................................
7 3. The rule of lenity
requires resolving any
remaining statutory ambiguity
in favor of Mr.
Schulte.............". Inner
City Press will continue to
cover this case.
On April 20
Schulte's lawyers
understandably asked to move
it into May. On April 21,
Judge Crotty endorsed the date
changes: "MEMO ENDORSEMENT as
to Joshua Adam Schulte on re:
[354] LETTER by Joshua Adam
Schulte addressed to Judge
Paul A. Crotty from Sabrina
Shroff & Edward Zas dated
April 20, 2020. ENDORSEMENT:
Post-trial motions are due on
May 15, 2020. The April 22
conference is adjourned to
Monday, May 18."
Here was
more from Schulte's lawyers'
letter: "Re: United States v.
Joshua Adam Schulte, 17 Cr.
548 (PAC) Honorable Judge
Crotty: We write to seek
relief from the Court
regarding several matters.
First, we are unable to file
Mr. Schulte’s post-trial
motions (due on April 22,
2020), as we have been not
spoken with Mr. Schulte to
discuss the motions with him.
MCC-NY has not been open for
legal visits and, but for one
brief phone call in late
March, we have been unable to
speak with Mr. Schulte. In
light of the ongoing pandemic,
we ask the Court to allow us
until May 15, 2020, to file
our post-trial motions, so
that we may confer with our
client before filing them. To
that end, we have sought and
continue to seek legal calls
with Mr. Schulte. The
government consents to this
request.
Second, we ask
the Court to order the MCC to
provide a social call between
Mr. Schulte and his parents.
Our requests to MCC-NY for
such a call have gone
unanswered. Mr. Schulte has
not spoken to his parents
since March 14, 2020. Mr.
Schulte is allowed a monthly
visit and a phone call with
his family. We ask the court
to order the Bureau of Prisons
to schedule a 1-hour social
call so that Mr. Schulte may
speak to his parents. To
ensure that the family does
not miss the telephone call,
we ask for advance notice on
the timing of the call. We
have asked the government for
its assistance and despite its
best efforts, we have not had
any forward movement. The
government takes no position
on this request.
Finally, we ask
the Court to adjourn the
scheduled April 22, 2020
status teleconference until a
date during the week of May
18, 2020, so that Mr. Schulte
can be made available for the
call." Inner City Press will
continue to cover this case.
Back on afternoon
of Friday, March 6 the jury
said it was aligned on two
counts (Count
8 involving
causing the
transmission
of a harmful
computer
program,
information,
code or
command and
Count 10
involving
obstruction of
justice) and
was at an impasse on the
remaining counts: that is, on
eight counts. Live
tweeted thread here.
More on Patreon here. Song
here.
Back on the
afternoon of February 28 the
US in an emergency hearing
dropped Count 2 against
Schulte, and admitted that it
can never be revived: jeopardy
has attached. Inner City Press
has obtained the transcript
and tweeted
and uploaded it here
on Scribd, on Patreon here.
On March
5, Judge Paul A. Crotty and
both side's lawyers held a
closed door proceeding in the
judge's robing room. Afterward
Assistant US Attorney Matthew
Laroche said that the
transcript should be sealed
until after a verdict.
Inner City
Press immediately wrote to
Judge Crotty and the docket,
for the fifth time in this
proceeding (here's III and
IV): "Dear Judge
Crotty: This
supplements the January 22, 23
and 26 and February 24, 2020
submissions on this topic on
behalf of Inner City Press and
in my personal capacity. Your
Honor on Janaury 31 ruled
inter alia that "[t]he
Government is directed to make
transcripts and exhibits
available to the public no
later than the evening after
the day of testimony." Docket
No. 293, at 15.
This morning after a robing
room discussion about Juror
Number 5 (and perhaps other
matters) from which the press
was excluded, AUSA Laroche
urged your Honor to seal the
transcript of that discussion
until AFTER there is a
verdict. That is unacceptable,
and inconsistent with your
previous order. The
purpose of this letter is to
formally request at the
earliest time - 10 minutes
after AUSA Laroche's
statement, your ruling on
which is unclear - that the
transcript of the robing room
proceeding be made available
immediately, as well as all
other exhibits which Inner
City Press has continued
available to the public on https://www.patreon.com/MatthewRussellLee."
Meanwhile,
as now excused Juror 5 left
the courthouse, Inner City
Press caught the tail / end of
her comments to two intrepid
tabloids. She specializes in
buttocks sculpting - and most
explosively, indicted that she
believed Schulte was naughty
but not guilty. This would
seem at a minimum to provide
fuel for a defense appeal in
the event of a conviction. But
first - the transcript. Watch
this site.
On March
4, the jury deliberated for a
full second day without
reaching a verdict. Or perhaps
the whole jury did not
deliberate - as Inner City
Press first tweeted (thread here),
the foreperson passed out a
note that Juror Number Four
(whose name was said) was
refusing to deliberate with
others, was conducting their
own inquiry into the evidence.
Schulte's lawyer Zas urged
Judge Crotty to let time
elapse before acting. Could
this type of independent
inquiry be more favorable to
Schulte than that US? Thread here;
Inner City Press is staying on
the case.
On March
3, the jury deliberated and
asked at least nine questions.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it, thread here.
There were questions about
locking and unlocking
computers, and if Schulte was
ever diagnosed with Asperger's
Syndrome, a matter raised in
cross-examination. Perhaps of
concern for the defense was
the lack of questions about
alternate suspect Michael.
At day's
end in Judge Crotty's
courtroom gallery it was only
Inner City Press and one of
the Assistant US Attorneys,
who waited to say he and
Schulte's lawyers would try to
answer some of the questions
the next day, March 4. Inner
City Press will be there -
watch this site.
On March 2
were the closing arguments,
which Inner City Press
tweeted, thread here.
AUSA Laroche: Joshua Schulte - King
Josh, he thought he was - reinstated his
privileges without authorization. It was a
huge red flag. So the CIA acted - it tried to
keep him out. But it left a backdoor, that he
used...
Schulte was so focused on getting his
privileges back he is willing to lie again.
He's logging in and out all day. This is his
IP address - he's logging in. He's using that
key, that session, to view log files.
Let's recap what happened. At 7:17 pm he
logged in again. Then 7:44 pm he's using that
left-over key to view log files as an
administrator with absolutely no reason. He
was planning to steal the information.
The information WikiLeaks published must have
come from back-up files, and we know the dates
of the files... Defendant reverted the files
to a time when he had full access. Minutes
later, he steals the back ups. And he deletes
log files.
AUSA Laroche: You know it was the defendant -
this 766 number, it is his session. It was
stored in his unallocated space. You will see
that the defendant searches again and again
for it....
Schulte's lawyer Sabrina Shroff: DEVLAN was
wide open. Passwords were leaked. There were
not audit logs. The witnesses told you DEVLAN
was the Wild, Wild West.... They called DEVLAN
a "dirty network." It had very easy passwords.
Simply carrying the data out the door on a
hard drive would not be difficult.
Shroff points at the AUSAs - "They don't
know." They look down at their hands. Shroff:
He tells you, the Alta backups were wide open.
Shroff: Michael was present at his desk when
the government says the data was taken. The
computer evidence they claim points to Mr.
Schulte, it fails to support the government's
case.... The thumb drive was removed 26
minutes *before* the reversion. And it was too
small, and write-protected. Maybe the culprit
is the one living at home on paid
administrative leave.
Shroff: Let's look at Government Exhibit
1207-27. Mr Denton told you March 3 was the
very day Mr Schulte felt the CIA had wronged
him. But there's nothing in the evidence that
Mr. Schulte viewed March 3, 2016 as
particularly significant.
Did he use a cell phone? Sure. But
that's not what he's charged with. Your job as
jurors is to put the government to these test.
I told you at the beginning of the trial, Mr.
Schulte was a difficult employee. That is all
the government has shown in over the past four
weeks....
AUSA Kamaraju: Ms Shroff spent a lot of time
talking about this thumb drive, more time than
we did. We told you he was nervous and wiped
it even that it wasn't plugged in during the
key time ... These is only one conclusion:
Joshua Schulte is guilty of the charges.
Judge Crotty: We'll have a half an hour break
then I'll instruct you on the law.
Back when the
trial set to begin February 3,
a public hearing was held on
January 27 about the US
Attorney's requests to seal
the courtroom for some witness
and limited media attendance
to a single pool reporter
banned from reporting any
physical characteristics of
the CIA witnesses.
On
this issue, Inner City Press
before the public hearing
filed three one-page letters
in opposition, the last one here.
At
the end U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Paul A. Crotty
asked
Assistant US
Attorney
Matthew
Laroche if his
Office
objected to
live video
feed to the
SDNY Press
Room, not
showing the
witnesses'
faces. AUSA
Laroche said
no objection -
which should
mean feeds for
this all other
proceedings,
when
requested. On
February 4, Inner City Press
live-tweeted the opening
arguments, here.
And here
a song.
On February
24, while an FBI agent
testified about ham-handed
interview of Schulte, Inner
City Press live tweeted thread
here,
the US Attorney's Office as it
is required made available
some exhibits, which we'll
make available without paywall
here on Patreon. But it
still did NOT provide the
audio files it played the
jury. This violated Judge
Crotty's order.
So on
February 24 Inner City Press
wrote another formal letter to
Judge Crotty, here,
cc-ing the US Attorney's
Office and Schulte's lawyers,
urging release of the audio
and video exhibits.
And lo and
behold on February 25 some
were released: a video Inner
City Press published here,
and here,
and a series of audio
exhibits, for example here
and here.
Now five more here.
And the February 26 exhibits,
in near real time, here.
On
February 26 the US put in as
exhibits emails involving
journalist Shane Harris, some
arbitrage of whether to send
to him or NYT, while opposing
admission of the CIA memo
about suspending Michael. Feb
26 thread here.
So will Michael be a witness?
Watch this site.
Early on
February 26, Schulte's lawyers
wrote to Judge Crotty that
"the defense is unable to call
its computer expert, Dr.
Steven M. Bellovin, as a trial
witness. As we have previously
explained, Dr. Bellovin,
despite repeated requests, was
never permitted access to the
full 'mirror images' of the
CIA’s ESXi and FSO1
Servers—images to which the
government’s expert has long
been granted full and
unrestricted access." Grounds
for appeal, if necessary?
On Febuary
25, a witness was whisked away
to the US Attorney's Office,
letter below; this after the
Press was told to leave the
14th and 5th floors, and the
complaint letter still not put
in the docket.
More on
Patreon here.
See Inner City
Press filing into the docket
on Big Cases Bot, here.
Watch this site. The case is US
v. Schulte, 17-cr-548
(Crotty).
***
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