| US Urges Banning Public From
CIA Leaks Trial of Schulte But SDNY Hearing
Jan 27 Inner City Press To Be There
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
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Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 21 – For the upcoming
trial of accused CIA leaker
Joshua Schulte, US Attorney
Geoffrey S. Berman is asking
to have the public excluded
from the courtroom during the
testimony of several CIA
witnesses.
On January 21,
District Judge Paul A. Crotty
scheduled a public hearing on
Berman's request, to be held
on January 27 in the run-up to
the trial scheduled to begin
February 3. Inner City Press
will be there for
both.
Schulte has been
charged to providing WikiLeaks
with information about the
CIA's hacking activities,
which WikiLeaks subsequently
published in its "Vault7"
trove.
Since then
Schulte has been accused of
further dissemination of
information from the
Metropolitan Correctional
Center, and put into solitary
confinement
there.
For months Inner
City Press, even as it has
complained about being
unceremoniously ordered to
leave certain courtrooms
including that of Judge Crotty
(in a case he said would be
made public in 60 days but
hasn't been - perhaps for
reasons, but none explained),
has observed lawyers headed to
the "SCIF" on the ninth floor
of the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York at 500 Pearl
Street.
One of
Schulte's lawyers, Sabrina
Shroff who also represented
former Senegal foreign
minister Cheikh Gadio in a UN
bribery trial Inner City Press
covered, has indicted she was
constrained in what she could
say. She has complied with all
rules, however restrictive.
But information wants to be
free.
On July
22, 2019 Inner City Press went
to Judge Crotty's courtroom
for the case US v. Perlson but
was told by Judge Crotty to
leave. Inner City Press said,
"I am a reporter. If you are
going to try to close a public
courtroom there must be
specific findings, for
specific portions. There is
case law." Inner City
Press pointed out US v.
Haller,
837 F.2d 84,
87 (before
closing a
proceeding to
which the
First
Amendment
right of
access
attaches, the
judge should
make specific,
on the record
findings
demonstrate
that closure
is essential
to preserve
higher values
and is
narrowly
tailored to
serve that
interest).
There
followed a sidebar, apparently
transcribed, from which Inner
City Press was excluded. At
the end Judge Crotty while
ordering Inner City Press to
leave said that the
government's case was moving
along well and that he hoped
to unseal the transcript in a
month.
Six months
later, the case still shows up
as "cannot find case" in
PACER.
Often when the
Schulte case has
appeared in the day's Events
Calendar in PACER, with
proceeding scheduled for Judge
Crotty's Courtroom 14C, Inner
City Press has gone, only to
find the courtroom door
locked.
Now, at least on
January 27, the door will be
open. Inner City Press will be
there, and while hoping to
live tweet from right there,
will publish a full article
immediately after. Watch this
site.
***
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