WASHINGTON – A former US soldier who allegedly tried to share classified information with Beijing may have worked in intelligence – but you wouldn’t know it from his failed plan.
Former Army Sgt. Joseph Schmidt, 29, was arrested Friday at San Francisco International Airport after boarding a flight from Hong Kong.
A grand jury indicted Schmidt Wednesday on charges of possessing and attempting to pass on national defense information, according to the Justice Department.
Schmidt, who served as the head of the Army’s human intelligence squad supporting US espionage in the Indo-Pacific, is accused of trying to become a spy for China in a plot that began just days after he left the service in February 2020.
Schmidt’s failed plan – which prosecutors called “shocking” – came to light after he allegedly made a series of highly suspicious internet searches, including “can you be extradited for treason?”
Google Gift
During a trip to Istanbul the same month he left the military, Schmidt made nearly 30 Google searches related to defections and spilled military secrets, from “the country with the most negative relationship with the US” to “what is China’s intelligence agency?” and “soldier defects,” according to an FBI investigative report.
Former Army Sgt. Joseph Schmidt, 29, is accused of trying to share classified information with Beijing.REUTERS
Other search terms include “spying subreddit” and “searching subreddits about spy stuff.”
Schmidt also asked Google Maps for driving directions from the Beijing airport to the headquarters of China’s Ministry of National Security, which has a similar role to the CIA.
On February 24, 2020, Schmidt sent a message to the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul requesting a meeting, calling himself a United States citizen who wanted to move to China.”
“I also try to share the information I learned during my career as an investigator with the Chinese government,” he wrote.
Schmidt was arrested Friday at San Francisco International Airport after boarding a flight from Hong Kong. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“I have a current top secret explanation, and would like to speak with someone from the Government to share this information with you if possible.”
“My experience includes training in interrogation, operating resources as a spy operator, surveillance detection and other advanced psychological operations strategies,” he continued.
“I would like to discuss the details with you in person if possible, as I am anxious to discuss this over email.”
Two days later, Schmidt allegedly typed a Microsoft Word document titled, “Important Information to Share with the Chinese Government,” which contained “various classified information related to national defense,” according to the FBI report.
He also contacted three state-owned Chinese propaganda outlets — People’s Daily, China Daily and Phoenix Television — asking if they “would be interested in using any of my military stories in your paper.”
A grand jury indicted Schmidt Wednesday on charges of possessing and attempting to pass on national defense information, according to the Justice Department. AFP/Getty Images
“I think your audience will be very interested in reading some of these,” he wrote.
On March 9, 2020, Schmidt traveled to Beijing from Hong Kong, where he had gone three days earlier, and he made another series of internet searches, including “What Real Spies Do and How They Are Recruited,” “Espionage” and “If it Spy, it’s here” in an apparent attempt to learn how to break into the Chinese intelligence community.
The next day, investigators said, cell phone data showed that Schmidt had reached out to the Ministry of National Security.
Job search
In Hong Kong without a work visa, Schmidt spent most of 2020 looking for a job “so he could move permanently to China,” an agent wrote in an FBI report.
But as the coronavirus outbreak surged, his career prospects were limited in the country.
On March 16, Schmidt created another document with a less secret title: “Top Level Secret.”
In it, he described its contents as “top secret US intelligence [that] can help the Chinese.”
“My last year in the military left me with the experience of working with advanced intelligence teams on projects with technologies so fragmented, that most people in the intelligence field were unaware of their existence,” he wrote, according to the Report.
Schmidt served as the head of an Army human intelligence squad supporting US espionage in the Indo-Pacific, accused of trying to spy for China in a plot that began just days after he left the service in February 2020. AFP via Getty Images
“I will only discuss this technology in person if I can meet with a qualified member of China’s Security Bureau.”
He also offered to create a program that “either replicates the American Intelligence Resource Management course” or conducts “training for surveillance teams to more effectively identify American Intelligence Operators by training your intelligence team in the highest techniques used by American Intelligence teams.”
The documents also include trade secrets of US intelligence and identify the locations of “numerous” US military bases.
With few options left, Schmidt allegedly contacted a Chinese ID card firm to see if they could “reverse engineer” the smart card used to access the US military’s internal intelligence network “where secret documents and information are stored.”
“It’s a very rare card outside of the intelligence community, and if used correctly, it could increase China’s ability to access the SIPR network,” Schmidt wrote in an email to the firm.
Schmidt’s failed plan – which prosecutors called “shocking” – came to light after he allegedly made a series of highly suspicious internet searches, including “Can you be extradited for treason?” AP
On May 12, Schmidt allegedly created a 28-slide PowerPoint presentation on “the use of technology in military resource operations and interrogation,” which included classified information, according to the report.
Schmidt eventually received a work permit allowing him to stay in Hong Kong, where he remained until his arrest, according to the report. In an email, he told his sister he had no intention of returning to the US, citing “disagreements with American policy,” explaining he would “limit my contact with people who live in America.”
“I don’t talk about it often, but I learned some really horrible things about the American government while I was in the Army, and I no longer feel safe in America,” he wrote, according to the report.
It’s unclear what kind of job – if any – Schmidt eventually found in China.
The ex-soldier will now stand trial in Washington state, where he was based when he allegedly stole the sensitive information.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, according to the DOJ.
“Members of our military take an oath to defend our country and our Constitution,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman for the Western District of Washington said in a statement.
“In that context, the alleged actions of these former military personnel are shocking – not only attempting to provide national defense information, but also information that would help foreign adversaries gain access to the Department of Defense’s secure computer network.”
“I commend the FBI for their tireless efforts to put an end to his alleged treason against our country.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
