NSA contractor working for Edward Snowden's former employer charged with stealing secrets

[midian182]

In what appears to be a case of history repeating itself, the NSA has arrested a contractor working for Booz Allen Hamilton, the same firm that employed Edward Snowden, and charged him with unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials, as well as theft of government property.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, the contractor is 51-year old Maryland resident Harold Thomas Martin III. The criminal complaint against him states that investigators found thousands of physical and digital documents marked as top secret when they searched his home on August 27.

TechCrunch reports that the material contained hacking codes for government systems in Russia, China and North Korea. Moreover, six of the discovered documents were said to be of an extremely sensitive nature.

According to the complaint, Martin initially denied taking the documents but later admitted to storing them in his home and car, despite knowing they were classified. “Martin stated that he knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized,” the affidavit states.

Edward Snowden famously passed NSA documents on to journalists in 2013. It’s unclear if Martin leaked the information in the his documents, or if he passed them on to a third party. His lawyers told the New York Times: “We have not seen any evidence. But what we know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.”

While no connection between Martin and Snowden has been made, investigators discovered Martin’s alleged theft when they were looking into the recent Shadow Brokers leak, which exposed what appeared to be malware used by the NSA. The leak took place two weeks before Martin’s arrest, suggesting he may not have any connection to it.

If found guilty, Martin could face up to ten years behind bars for his crimes. If it’s discovered that he shared the information with anyone, the contractor may face charges under the Espionage Act, just as Edward Snowden does.

Am I correct in reading they didn't charge him under the Espionage Act? Under this administration, that's a noteworthy absence.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 5, 2016

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/66583-nsa-contractor-working-edward-snowden-former-employer-charged.html

 

[RustyTech]

Oh...they'll hang him...they'll hang him for sure! and after they hang him, they'll beat him over and over and over...and Hillary will laugh her evil laugh.

 

[fps4ever]

OK, so he stole them just to keep the documents at home? Talk about half ***'ing it for no reward!

 

[petert]

Again, are you kidding me? They are good at spending huge budgets only, they can't even secure their own stuff.

 

[Hexic]

Again, are you kidding me? They are good at spending huge budgets only, they can't even secure their own stuff.

You can't control free will. You can regulate it all you want, but if I wanted to walk into work tomorrow and misuse some sensitive information - I most definitely could.

I obviously won't, because I enjoy what I do and I'm not a dumb@$$.. but the point remains the same. Without trust, nobody has anything.

 

[hahahanoobs]

"There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.”

Um......

 

[stewi0001]

"Moreover, six of the discovered documents were said to be of an extremely sensitive nature."

Ah, the six documents must be information on the super butt hurt people that get offended by every little thing. ;P

 

[Evernessince]

I think at this point the NSA has shown us it's a definite liability when it comes to protecting any sort of secret.

 

[Bob25]

All he has to do is tell them he's voting for Hillary and the Justice Dept. won't prosecute. "Just extremely careless."

 

[RustyTech]

All he has to do is tell them he's voting for Hillary and the Justice Dept. won't prosecute. "Just extremely careless."

LOLOL exactly!

 

[davislane1]

Poor bastard should have run for POTUS on the Democrat ticket.

“We have not seen any evidence. But what we know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.”

Is this not the Hillary defense? Why are they prosecuting this man? I see no intent! No intent, I tell you!

Quick! Somebody call Comey!

 

[Evernessince]

Poor bastard should have run for POTUS on the Democrat ticket.

“We have not seen any evidence. But what we know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.”

Is this not the Hillary defense? Why are they prosecuting this man? I see no intent! No intent, I tell you!

Quick! Somebody call Comey!

I fail to see how this is an issue on only the democratic side of things. It doesn't matter what "side" you are on, the lack of prosecution of the powerful is lacking.

 

[davislane1]

I fail to see how this is an issue on only the democratic side of things. It doesn't matter what "side" you are on, the lack of prosecution of the powerful is lacking.

It's very simple. If a Republican had done what a Democrat had done, both the media and the FBI would have been on them like white on rice. Instead, we all know that Donald Trump said that Machado chick was fat while under contract to be not-fat.

Non-prosecutions in light of clear and abundant evidence is a Democrat thing

For the record: Both parties can burn after this election. Hopefully at the same time.

 

[Raoul Duke]

If something is Top Secret isn't it essentially by definition 'extremely sensitive'?
"There is no evidence he intended to betray his country" WTF?? He knew it was 'unauthorized' and was wrong to do, so in a nutshell he violated a whole lot of documents, statues, laws, he 'signed on for' and the confidence placed in him. Is that not betrayal right there?
Why even have the documents at home? So his neighbour visiting for coffee could see the TOP SECRET on the folder and think he was some kind of big man? Says he loves his family, does that mean he lives alone or that they had access too?

 

[davislane1]

Why even have the documents at home? So his neighbour visiting for coffee could see the TOP SECRET on the folder and think he was some kind of big man? Says he loves his family, does that mean he lives alone or that they had access too?

I am sure he moved the files because he thought it would be more of a convenience.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Why even have the documents at home? So his neighbour visiting for coffee could see the TOP SECRET on the folder and think he was some kind of big man? Says he loves his family, does that mean he lives alone or that they had access too?

I am sure he moved the files because he thought it would be more of a convenience.

actually, having worked with these kinds of documents I can see that possibility. Some people overclassify documents which makes following the rules for handling documents of that designation a real pain when you know what's in them. It can be hard to get stuff done, like you need to go to the bathroom, but that means the document needs to go back into the folder and be locked up, even though no one is around and maybe it's overclassified as well which adds to your grief. Still though, for a clean conscience, you follow them all. I wonder how you can be judged smart and trustworthy enough to work with these documents, but dumb enough to take (it says thousands, although if electronic, could be small size) these kinds of documents home. I just don't get it. But then there is lots of stuff that just makes me shake my head in wonder

 

[davislane1]

My convenience comment was sarcastic. Any post I make in this thread should be considered a Clinton joke.

That said... I have wondered this myself when it comes to some of these contractors. You would think they could connect obvious dots.

 

[Raoul Duke]

My convenience comment was sarcastic. Any post I make in this thread should be considered a Clinton joke.

That said... I have wondered this myself when it comes to some of these contractors. You would think they could connect obvious dots.

well I'm not the sharpest pencil in the pack at the moment. Not having TV or following the US election also has left me out of the many comments on this thread since they seem to almost all be about politics. I thought you had watched or read something on this guy on some other news media in which he said that convenience was the reason. Oh well

 

[davislane1]

well I'm not the sharpest pencil in the pack at the moment. Not having TV or following the US election also has left me out of the many comments on this thread since they seem to almost all be about politics. I thought you had watched or read something on this guy on some other news media in which he said that convenience was the reason. Oh well

I'll bring you up to speed. Everything revolves around these two issues in the political (hijacked?) threads:

1. FBI director Comey held a national press conference a couple months ago. He spent several minutes detailing every law Hillary Clinton broke with regards to handling top-secret information. He also highlighted the fact that she lied, both to media and investigators, about how she handled that information (illegally on an unsecured private server and across multiple unsecure devices) and destroying evidence.

He then proceeded to recommend no charges because it wasn't clear she intended to break the law.

2. It appears we are on the brink of World War III, caused in no small part by the shrewd diplomacy of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, et. al. In spite of this, for the past year, the entire case the media and anti-Trump people have been making is that Donald Trump can't be POTUS because he's known to say mean things and is a Nazi, because of a green frog on the internet named Pepe and shitposting.

No really, I'm not kidding:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-us-election-2016-palmer-luckey-a7326111.html

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/donald-trump-pepe-the-frog-and-white-supremacists-an-explainer/

Now you have all the context. You are also now aware of the circus. (y)

 

[RustyTech]

Now you have all the context. You are also now aware of the circus. (y)

Don't for get the Chinese and Russian hate train. Well, actually it's all about Putin in this election; like if Trump is a communist or something. Yeah..Hillary is so desperate she's brought that in along with dragging another country into this election - just so sad.

And all the 3-letter agencies are covering for her - including the media.

 

[Raoul Duke]

A little excerpt from Frank Zappa's book, a quote where he writes about HONESTY

"When political leaders do not demonstrate honesty, when people lie constantly in the media -- everybody get used to 'The Big Lie' as a way of life. At that point, honesty becomes a quaintly outmoded concept -- nobody wants to be honest anymore, because if they are, they might finish last.
I would say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest, but the few that really control things are not honest, and that tips the balance.

I don't think we have an honest president. I don't think that he is surrounded by honest people. I don't believe that most of the people in Congress or in the Senate are honest. I don't think that most people who head up businesses are honest. We have let them get away with it because we're not honest enough to face up to the fact that we are 'owned and operated' by a bunch of really bad people."

 

[Techstar]

He probably did it just to be on the game show, "I've got a secret". ...if he did it.

 

[Techstar]

A little excerpt from Frank Zappa's book, a quote where he writes about HONESTY

"When political leaders do not demonstrate honesty, when people lie constantly in the media -- everybody get used to 'The Big Lie' as a way of life. At that point, honesty becomes a quaintly outmoded concept -- nobody wants to be honest anymore, because if they are, they might finish last.
I would say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest, but the few that really control things are not honest, and that tips the balance.

I don't think we have an honest president. I don't think that he is surrounded by honest people. I don't believe that most of the people in Congress or in the Senate are honest. I don't think that most people who head up businesses are honest. We have let them get away with it because we're not honest enough to face up to the fact that we are 'owned and operated' by a bunch of really bad people."

lol owned and operated...I am glad I am not you, that must suck.

 

[Raoul Duke]

lol owned and operated...I am glad I am not you, that must suck.

well in the first place it was a quote, but since you ask:
do you believe that your government is giving themselves grey hair and losing sleep at night thinking up better ways that they might serve you, their constituents, that you and their other constituents are "job # 1" and that their character is beyond reproach and that they avoid even the appearance of evil as befits any person given such powers over other people. In return for being given a position of power (police, armed forces, government) you make an oath, are sworn to, or some similar thing to uphold certain values. In the USA I believe that is the Constitution. In Canada we elect a Prime Minister, they are to minister to the needs of the people. To tend the flock (so to speak) and not to fleece them instead.
Is this the situation? Do we actually have confidence anymore in public institutions? (Media, organized religion, the big banks, etc).
I'm saying the answer is NO, and not only are they not looking out after your interests, they have rigged the game to ensure YOU don't get anywhere near the apparatus of power. It seems the two sacred things to these people are power and money, and if it is yours, too bad.....and it does really suck. I honestly try not to dwell on it too much, but it is so obvious it can be hard to concentrate on the parts of life you have control over.

 

[jack_alexander]

All of this secret (crap) information belongs to the people who paid for it. Thus we should be able to freely know what it is, that is, if we truly have a free government and freedom. (Which we do not.)