Posted on Oct 7, 2023
Ex-U.S. Army sergeant charged with trying to pass secrets to China
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https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/ [login to see] /ex-u-s-army-sergeant-charged-with-trying-to-pass-secrets-to-china
A former U.S. Army sergeant who worked in military intelligence and carried a top secret security clearance was arrested Friday and charged with trying to pass sensitive American defense information to China.
Federal agents took 29-year-old Joseph Daniel Schmidt into custody at the San Francisco airport this morning, officials said. He faces one count of trying to deliver national defense information and one count of retention of national defense information.
Court papers say Schmidt served in the U.S. Army from 2015 to 2020, primarily with the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. He held a top secret security clearance, had studied Mandarin and worked as a team leader in spying operations.
A former U.S. Army sergeant who worked in military intelligence and carried a top secret security clearance was arrested Friday and charged with trying to pass sensitive American defense information to China.
Federal agents took 29-year-old Joseph Daniel Schmidt into custody at the San Francisco airport this morning, officials said. He faces one count of trying to deliver national defense information and one count of retention of national defense information.
Court papers say Schmidt served in the U.S. Army from 2015 to 2020, primarily with the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. He held a top secret security clearance, had studied Mandarin and worked as a team leader in spying operations.
Ex-U.S. Army sergeant charged with trying to pass secrets to China
Posted from npr.org
Espionage
Spying
Intelligence
China
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM)
Posted 7 mo ago
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4 American traitors more destructive than Benedict Arnold
1. John Anthony Walker : Walker’s attempt at living a playboy lifestyle caught up to him eventually. In the face of mounting debt, he walked into the Soviet Embassy and offered his services to the USSR.
Over the course of more than 20 years, he gave away more than a million decrypted secret messages, the code keys to deciphering more messages, the locations of American nuclear submarines, and the entire planning and operational guides to the ongoing war in Vietnam.
The KGB spy also recruited friends and family members into his growing spy ring, all for his own monetary gain. In the end, his wife and daughter, who he failed to recruit, gave him up to the FBI.
In a quick investigation, Walker was finally apprehended aboard the USS Nimitz, caught red handed with a trove of classified information. He had to be escorted under guard to keep him safe from sailors and Marines who wanted to dole out their own punishment.
2. Aldrich Ames : After releasing what he believed to be harmless information to the USSR, he received a quick payday, and was soon hooked into giving the Soviets more and more information for more and more money.
He began giving out the names of counterintelligence assets and operations that the KGB rolled up in a hurry. The quick end of these operations led the CIA to believe a mole was in counterintelligence.
Meanwhile Ames was making a fortune to the sum of $4.6 million. Between 1985 and 1994, Ames fed information to the KGB about every western mole in Soviet intelligence, compromising the lives of countless informants.
3. Aaron Burr : Thomas Jefferson’s vice president had a number of plans to betray the United States. He offered to take Louisiana out of the Union for the British in exchange for $500,000 and a few ships of the line. He made this offer to a British agent on no fewer than three separate occasions, even while still sitting as vice-president.
Burr’s grand scheme was creating a group of wealthy planters and Army officers to capture a large swath of North America, specifically, the American Southwest, maybe even conquer Mexico, and form a separate government. He was ultimately betrayed by James Wilkinson in New Orleans and was put on trial. Without credible testimony, he was acquitted.
4. James Wilkinson : There were many problems with Wilkinson’s service but the foremost among them was that he had been spying for the Spanish most of the time.
When his role in Aaron Burr’s own treason was nearly discovered, he placed New Orleans under martial law and imprisoned anyone who might be able to prove Wilkinson was complicit in the plot.
Wilkinson was never caught during his life, but his papers were discovered in 1854, leading Theodore Roosevelt to say, “In all our history, there is no more despicable character.”
SOURCE : https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/4-american-traitors-more-destructive-than-benedict-arnold/
How Did 10 Army Bases Get Named for Traitors?
SOURCE : https://www.military.com/podcasts/left-of-boom/2020/11/16/how-did-10-army-bases-get-named-traitors.html/amp
THE ARMY SHOULD RID ITSELF OF SYMBOLS OF TREASON
SOURCE : https://warontherocks.com/2020/03/the-army-should-rid-itself-of-symbols-of-treason/
““Joseph Daniel Schmidt was once a trusted guardian of our nation’s secrets and swore an oath to defend and protect U.S. national security,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “As alleged by the government, Schmidt betrayed his promise and potentially placed our nation at risk in his attempts to pass national defense information to Chinese security services. The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the American people and U.S. national security."
“Members of our military take a sworn oath to defend our country and the Constitution. In that context the alleged actions of this former military member are shocking – not only attempting to provide national defense information, but also information that would assist a foreign adversary to gain access to Department of Defense secure computer networks,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington. “I commend the FBI for their diligent work to end his alleged efforts to betray our country.”
[ “According to records filed in the case, Schmidt was an active-duty soldier from January 2015 to January 2020. His primary assignment was at JBLM in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion. In his role, Schmidt had access to SECRET and TOP SECRET information. After his separation from the military, Schmidt allegedly reached out to the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and later, the Chinese security services via email offering information about national defense information.
In March 2020, Schmidt traveled to Hong Kong and allegedly continued his efforts to provide Chinese intelligence with classified information he obtained from his military service. He allegedly retained a device that allows for access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to Chinese authorities to assist them in efforts to gain access to such networks.” ]
SOURCE : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-soldier-indicted-attempting-pass-national-defense-information-peoples-republic-china
1. John Anthony Walker : Walker’s attempt at living a playboy lifestyle caught up to him eventually. In the face of mounting debt, he walked into the Soviet Embassy and offered his services to the USSR.
Over the course of more than 20 years, he gave away more than a million decrypted secret messages, the code keys to deciphering more messages, the locations of American nuclear submarines, and the entire planning and operational guides to the ongoing war in Vietnam.
The KGB spy also recruited friends and family members into his growing spy ring, all for his own monetary gain. In the end, his wife and daughter, who he failed to recruit, gave him up to the FBI.
In a quick investigation, Walker was finally apprehended aboard the USS Nimitz, caught red handed with a trove of classified information. He had to be escorted under guard to keep him safe from sailors and Marines who wanted to dole out their own punishment.
2. Aldrich Ames : After releasing what he believed to be harmless information to the USSR, he received a quick payday, and was soon hooked into giving the Soviets more and more information for more and more money.
He began giving out the names of counterintelligence assets and operations that the KGB rolled up in a hurry. The quick end of these operations led the CIA to believe a mole was in counterintelligence.
Meanwhile Ames was making a fortune to the sum of $4.6 million. Between 1985 and 1994, Ames fed information to the KGB about every western mole in Soviet intelligence, compromising the lives of countless informants.
3. Aaron Burr : Thomas Jefferson’s vice president had a number of plans to betray the United States. He offered to take Louisiana out of the Union for the British in exchange for $500,000 and a few ships of the line. He made this offer to a British agent on no fewer than three separate occasions, even while still sitting as vice-president.
Burr’s grand scheme was creating a group of wealthy planters and Army officers to capture a large swath of North America, specifically, the American Southwest, maybe even conquer Mexico, and form a separate government. He was ultimately betrayed by James Wilkinson in New Orleans and was put on trial. Without credible testimony, he was acquitted.
4. James Wilkinson : There were many problems with Wilkinson’s service but the foremost among them was that he had been spying for the Spanish most of the time.
When his role in Aaron Burr’s own treason was nearly discovered, he placed New Orleans under martial law and imprisoned anyone who might be able to prove Wilkinson was complicit in the plot.
Wilkinson was never caught during his life, but his papers were discovered in 1854, leading Theodore Roosevelt to say, “In all our history, there is no more despicable character.”
SOURCE : https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/4-american-traitors-more-destructive-than-benedict-arnold/
How Did 10 Army Bases Get Named for Traitors?
SOURCE : https://www.military.com/podcasts/left-of-boom/2020/11/16/how-did-10-army-bases-get-named-traitors.html/amp
THE ARMY SHOULD RID ITSELF OF SYMBOLS OF TREASON
SOURCE : https://warontherocks.com/2020/03/the-army-should-rid-itself-of-symbols-of-treason/
““Joseph Daniel Schmidt was once a trusted guardian of our nation’s secrets and swore an oath to defend and protect U.S. national security,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “As alleged by the government, Schmidt betrayed his promise and potentially placed our nation at risk in his attempts to pass national defense information to Chinese security services. The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the American people and U.S. national security."
“Members of our military take a sworn oath to defend our country and the Constitution. In that context the alleged actions of this former military member are shocking – not only attempting to provide national defense information, but also information that would assist a foreign adversary to gain access to Department of Defense secure computer networks,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington. “I commend the FBI for their diligent work to end his alleged efforts to betray our country.”
[ “According to records filed in the case, Schmidt was an active-duty soldier from January 2015 to January 2020. His primary assignment was at JBLM in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion. In his role, Schmidt had access to SECRET and TOP SECRET information. After his separation from the military, Schmidt allegedly reached out to the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and later, the Chinese security services via email offering information about national defense information.
In March 2020, Schmidt traveled to Hong Kong and allegedly continued his efforts to provide Chinese intelligence with classified information he obtained from his military service. He allegedly retained a device that allows for access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to Chinese authorities to assist them in efforts to gain access to such networks.” ]
SOURCE : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-soldier-indicted-attempting-pass-national-defense-information-peoples-republic-china
4 American traitors more destructive than Benedict Arnold
Traitors have the ability to cause the most grievous harm to the security of the United States and compromise its military.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."If convicted, the two charges Schmidt faces – attempting to deliver national defense information and retention of national defense information – each carry up to 10 years in prison. No attorney is listed for Schmidt on the public docket.
After transitioning to inactive duty in January 2020, Schmidt allegedly made trips to Beijing and Turkey and searched on Google phrases including “turkey extradition military defection,” “soldier defect,” “chinese embassy,” “iranian embassy,” and “can you be extradited for treason.”
In February 2020, Schmidt sent an email to the Chinese Consulates’ public email address in Turkey, saying that he was looking to move to China and “share information I learned during my career as an interrogator with the Chinese government,” according to court documents.
“I have a current top secret clearance, and would like to talk to someone from the Government to share this information with you if that is possible. My experience includes training in interrogation, running sources as a spy handler, surveillance detection, and other advanced psychological operation strategies,” he allegedly wrote.
Schmidt then created a document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government,” federal investigators said, which the US Army later determined contained classified national defense information.
In March 2020, Schmidt traveled back to China after spending a few days in the US following his Turkey trip, court documents say. He hadn’t returned to the US until Friday, according to the Justice Department, and was arrested at an airport in San Francisco."...
..."If convicted, the two charges Schmidt faces – attempting to deliver national defense information and retention of national defense information – each carry up to 10 years in prison. No attorney is listed for Schmidt on the public docket.
After transitioning to inactive duty in January 2020, Schmidt allegedly made trips to Beijing and Turkey and searched on Google phrases including “turkey extradition military defection,” “soldier defect,” “chinese embassy,” “iranian embassy,” and “can you be extradited for treason.”
In February 2020, Schmidt sent an email to the Chinese Consulates’ public email address in Turkey, saying that he was looking to move to China and “share information I learned during my career as an interrogator with the Chinese government,” according to court documents.
“I have a current top secret clearance, and would like to talk to someone from the Government to share this information with you if that is possible. My experience includes training in interrogation, running sources as a spy handler, surveillance detection, and other advanced psychological operation strategies,” he allegedly wrote.
Schmidt then created a document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government,” federal investigators said, which the US Army later determined contained classified national defense information.
In March 2020, Schmidt traveled back to China after spending a few days in the US following his Turkey trip, court documents say. He hadn’t returned to the US until Friday, according to the Justice Department, and was arrested at an airport in San Francisco."...
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