Former CIA employee identified as suspect accused of giving WikiLeaks secret 'Vault 7' hacking tools

The United States government believes it has identified the perpetrator of the 2017 leak to Wikileaks of the Central Intelligence Agency's computer hacking tools, The Washington Postreported Tuesday.

The newspaper reported for the first time that the suspect is Joshua Adam Schulte, a former CIA employee.

Despite searching the suspect's New York apartment, prosecutors say they currently lack the evidence to charge Schulte.

“Those search warrants haven’t yielded anything that is consistent with [Schulte’s] involvement in that disclosure,” said assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York Matthew Laroche.

However, Laroche says the investigation "is ongoing" with Schulte remaining "a target of that investigation."

Schulte is currently detained in a Manhattan jail on child pornography charges.

Prior to joining the CIA, Schulte worked for the National Security Agency. He now works in the private sector.