Snowden

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sputnik no lnxSnowden: Manning Preferred Principles to Freedom at Expense of Collaboration With US Authorities© AP Photo / Friso Gentsch/dpaUS 13.03.2020by Lilia DergachevaFormer military intel analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered to be released from federal detention a day after a suicide attempt in her cell, with a US district judge asserting that her confinement no longer serves its “coercive purpose".
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, whom Russia granted political asylum in 2013 to protect him from US-initiated espionage charges, has eloquently zeroed in on Chelsea Manning’s recent release from federal detention, saying the authorities “offered to let her out in exchange for collaboration, but she chose her principles instead.”“The government cast Manning into a dungeon for resisting a scheme to make publishers of news subject to the Espionage Act", Snowden tweeted referencing whistleblower and former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning’s cooperation with WikiLeaks and her unconditional support for website founder Julian Assange, who is currently behind bars in a high-profile London prison.US District Judge Anthony J. Trenga ordered Chelsea Manning released from detention on Thursday, a day after the ex-army contractor attempted to commit suicide.As Trenga put it in his court order, Ms. Manning's appearance before the grand jury – the condition Manning had been slapped with to be released – “is no longer needed", which means “her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose". However, she is still obligated to pay fines worth $256,000.Similarly, author and free speech advocate Nozomi Hayase has said that it is a "huge relief" to know that Manning has now been released from detention, however, "we must not forget that she should not have been imprisoned in the first place"."The secrecy of the grand jury is a coercive procedure used by the state to go after whistleblowers and journalists who expose the government’s wrongdoings. This practice is a part of the US government’s war on the free press, going after WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Manning was incarcerated because of her principled stance of refusing to cooperate in the federal grand jury targeting WikiLeaks. She indicated that she would not betray her principles, and that she would rather starve to death than testify", says Hayase.According to the author, even though the torture of Manning has ended, "she will carry devastating effects of psychological trauma that may be irreversible"."The US government’s treatment of Manning shows that if Assange were to be extradited to the US, he would not only never receive a fair trial, but he would be tortured. We need to end this political battle and Assange needs to be immediately released. Both Manning and Assange have shown remarkable strength and integrity in their resistance. But they can’t do it alone, and they need our support. We can’t allow them to be driven to death, whether it is by suicide or murder. It is time for people to step up and work together to free these truth-tellers and bring justice", Hayase stressed.Chelsea Manning was originally charged with 22 offences, including aiding the enemy, which could have seen her be handed a death sentence. Born Bradley Manning, she later transitioned to a woman, and was eventually acquitted of the most serious charge, having pleaded guilty to 10 offences, with her sentence subsequently commuted by President Obama to nearly seven years of confinement.Two years after her 2017 release from the maximum-security Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Manning was jailed at an Alexandria, Virginia dentention centre for contempt of court after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury that has been probing WikiLeaks. Her new, almost a year-long confinement and snowballing "psychological torture", as the case has been referred to by UN expert Nils Melzer, have resulted in Manning's attempted suicide.Meanwhile, Julian Assange, who is through his first round of February extradition hearings, faces up to 175 years in prison in the US where he is wanted on 18 counts of espionage-related crimes. All of the charges pertain to his role in publishing classified diplomatic cables which shed light on war crimes committed by US-led forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and US-occupied Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba.The extradition hearings will resume on 18 May 2020, as soon as witness and expert testimony is presented by both sides.<div>=</div><div><a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3479-wikileaks-stratfor-vp-states-washington-would-have-assassinated-presidents-of-bolivia-and-venezuela-in-past-years"> http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3479-wikileaks-stratfor-vp-states-washington-would-have-assassinated-presidents-of-bolivia-and-venezuela-in-past-years</a></div><div>
</div><div>Written by Cyril Mychalejko   </div><div>Monday, 27 February 2012 16:19</div><div>
</div><div>According to internal company emails published by WikiLeaks, Austin-based intelligence firm Stratfor's Vice President stated that in the past Washington would have assassinated the Presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela. </div><div>
</div><div>“Back in the day, we would have been planning his (and Chavez's) helicopter 'accident,'” wrote VP Fred Burton, a former deputy chief of the State Department's counter terrorism division, in an email regarding Bolivian President Evo Morales. “Guess I'm getting old.” </div><div>
</div><div>Stratfor provides intelligence for corporations such as Coca-Cola, Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, as well as to US government agencies. Their analysts are cited in major media outlets around the globe. </div><div>
</div><div>In the same email thread regarding a State Department source's “take on [Bolivian President Evo] Morales,” Stratfor operative Korena Zucha calls Morales a “4th grade educated, narco-trafficking, murderous thug” whose actions are protected by the “left-leaning MSM [Mainstream] media.”</div><div>
</div><div>The email goes on to state: </div><div>
</div><div>“His rhetoric is anti-US and anti-Capitalism, so he is the darling to the ultra-left and self-hating US citizens (Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, etc.)...his 'Mother Earth' Summit [aka, vehement anti-US, anti-Capitalism (specifically targeting Coca Cola), anti-UN, pro-coca (sic cocaine) and narco-trafficking platform that was embraced by 22,000 anti-US, left-wing anarchists in attendance].” </div><div>
</div><div></div><div> </div><div>
</div><div></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident</a></div><div>
</div><div>On 1 July 2013, president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales" title="Evo Morales" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Evo Morales</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Bolivia</a>, who had been attending a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Exporting_Countries_Forum" title="Gas Exporting Countries Forum" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">conference of gas-exporting countries</a> in Russia, gave an interview to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT(TV_network)" title="RT (TV network)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">RT television network</a> in which he appeared predisposed to offer asylum to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden" title="Edward Snowden" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Edward Snowden</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-emol--1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[1]</a> Snowden had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Flight_from_the_United_States" title="Edward Snowden" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">fled the United States</a> a month earlier after his disclosure of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)#2013" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">secret, widespread surveillance</a> by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">NSA</a>, for which he faced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Criminal_charges" title="Edward Snowden" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">criminal charges in the U.S.</a>.The day after his TV interview, Morales's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon_900" title="Dassault Falcon 900" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dassault Falcon 900</a>, carrying him back to Bolivia from Russia, took off from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vnukovo_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Vnukovo Airport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vnukovo Airport</a>, but was rerouted to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria" title="Austria" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Austria</a> when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">France</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Spain</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Italy</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-sol.sapo--2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bbc-morales-vienna-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> Snowden was in fact still in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheremetyevo_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Sheremetyevo Airport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sheremetyevo Airport</a>, where he had been staying since arriving in Russia a week earlier. An audio tape was subsequently released which appeared to be a recording of the flight crew requesting to land in Austria on the grounds they "could not get a correct indication" of their remaining fuel levels.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-washingtonpost-morales-vienna-erz%C3%A4hlungen-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table;"><ul style="list-style-image: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Forced_landing" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Forced landing</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Aftermath" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Aftermath</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Claim_of_responsibility" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Claim of responsibility</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Forced landing[</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: right; float: right;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 172px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">President of Bolivia Evo Morales</a></div></div></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">Austria's deputy chancellor, </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Spindelegger" title="Michael Spindelegger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Michael Spindelegger</a>, said that the plane was searched, although the Bolivian Defense Minister denied a search took place, saying Morales had denied entry to his plane.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-washingtonpost-morales-vienna-erz%C3%A4hlungen-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-in.reuters-morales-vienna-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a> The refusals for entry into French, Spanish, and Italian airspace ostensibly for "technical reasons", strongly denounced by Bolivia, Ecuador, and other South American nations, were attributed to rumors disseminated allegedly by the US that Snowden was on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bigstory.ap-morales-wien-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-edition.cnn-morales-wien-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José García-Margallo, publicly stated that they were told he was on board but did not specify as to who had informed them.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bbc-morales-vienna-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a>Austrian media later reported that when the plane landed in Vienna to refuel, US Ambassador to Austria, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Eacho" title="William Eacho" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Eacho</a>, “claimed with great certainty that Edward Snowden was onboard” and mentioned a “diplomatic note requesting Snowden’s extradition.”<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-rt-snowden-3countries-asylum-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a>The President of Austria, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Fischer" title="Heinz Fischer" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Heinz Fischer</a>, went to greet President Morales in his plane and shared breakfast with him.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]The plane took off again after Austrian officials confirmed that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden" title="Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Edward Snowden</a> was not on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-theguardian-morales-complains-un-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Aftermath[</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: right; float: right;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 172px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ban_Ki-moon_1-2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ban_Ki-moon_1-2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">U.N. Secretary-General </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon" title="Ban Ki-moon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ban Ki-moon</a> asserted that "a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_state" title="Head of state" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">head of state</a> and his or her aircraft enjoy immunity and inviolability"</div></div></div>France apologized for the incident immediately.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-aljazeera-morales-vienna-france-apologieses-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> The Spanish ambassador to Bolivia apologized two weeks later, citing inappropriate procedures.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-ramos-2013-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> The Italians and Portuguese sent official explanations to the Bolivian Government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a>On 3 July, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen_Psaki" title="Jen Psaki" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jen Psaki</a>, spokesperson for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State" title="United States Department of State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Department of State</a>, acknowledged that the U.S. had been "in contact with a range of countries across the world who had any chance of having Mr. Snowden land or even transit through their countries".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-state-morales-us-press-briefing-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-theguardian-morales-live-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a>On 20 September, Evo Morales announced a lawsuit against the U.S. government for "crimes against humanity" for repeatedly blocking presidential flights, after an incident in which authorization for an overflight of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico" title="Puerto Rico" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Puerto Rico</a> by President Maduro of Venezuela was delayed, although U.S. authorities said that they were entitled to three days' advance notice. Maduro had been en route to arrive in Beijing for bilaterial talks with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" class="mw-redirect" title="People's Republic of China" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">People's Republic of China</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-live.huffingtonpost-morales-sue-us-gov-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>In the aftermath of the incident, seven Latin American countries – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivia</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Argentina</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cuba</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ecuador</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nicaragua</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Uruguay</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuela</a> – voiced their concerns to UN Secretary-General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-Moon" class="mw-redirect" title="Ban Ki-Moon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ban Ki-Moon</a>, who asserted that "a Head of State and his or her aircraft enjoy immunity and inviolability".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-un-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> Ban also emphasized that it is important to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-un-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Claim of responsibility[</h2>In April 2015, Wikileaks founder <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" title="Julian Assange" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Julian Assange</a> claimed to having deliberately leaked the false information about Snowden being on the plane to the U.S., as part of "special measures" to distract secret services. In response, the Bolivian ambassador to Russia demanded that Assange apologize for putting their president's life at risk. Interviewed in August 2015 by the Bolivian newspaper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Deber" title="El Deber" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">El Deber</a>, Assange stated that Wikileaks and the government of Venezuela discussed smuggling Snowden out of Russia aboard the presidential plane of either Venezuela or Bolivia. Assange did not know whether or not the Bolivian government was aware of these negotiations, and did not himself communicate with the Bolivians, but said that Venezuela should have warned Bolivia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a></div><div>=</div><div> http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3479-wikileaks-stratfor-vp-states-washington-would-have-assassinated-presidents-of-bolivia-and-venezuela-in-past-years</div><div>
</div><div>Written by Cyril Mychalejko   </div><div>Monday, 27 February 2012 16:19</div><div>
</div><div>According to internal company emails published by WikiLeaks, Austin-based intelligence firm Stratfor's Vice President stated that in the past Washington would have assassinated the Presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela. </div><div>
</div><div>“Back in the day, we would have been planning his (and Chavez's) helicopter 'accident,'” wrote VP Fred Burton, a former deputy chief of the State Department's counter terrorism division, in an email regarding Bolivian President Evo Morales. “Guess I'm getting old.” </div><div>
</div><div>Stratfor provides intelligence for corporations such as Coca-Cola, Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, as well as to US government agencies. Their analysts are cited in major media outlets around the globe. </div><div>
</div><div>In the same email thread regarding a State Department source's “take on [Bolivian President Evo] Morales,” Stratfor operative Korena Zucha calls Morales a “4th grade educated, narco-trafficking, murderous thug” whose actions are protected by the “left-leaning MSM [Mainstream] media.”</div><div>
</div><div>The email goes on to state: </div><div>
</div><div>“His rhetoric is anti-US and anti-Capitalism, so he is the darling to the ultra-left and self-hating US citizens (Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, etc.)...his 'Mother Earth' Summit [aka, vehement anti-US, anti-Capitalism (specifically targeting Coca Cola), anti-UN, pro-coca (sic cocaine) and narco-trafficking platform that was embraced by 22,000 anti-US, left-wing anarchists in attendance].” </div><div>
</div><div></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident</a></div><div>
</div><div>On 1 July 2013, president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales" title="Evo Morales" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Evo Morales</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivia</a>, who had been attending a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Exporting_Countries_Forum" title="Gas Exporting Countries Forum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">conference of gas-exporting countries</a> in Russia, gave an interview to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT(TV_network)" title="RT (TV network)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">RT television network</a> in which he appeared predisposed to offer asylum to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden" title="Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Edward Snowden</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-emol--1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a> Snowden had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Flight_from_the_United_States" title="Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">fled the United States</a> a month earlier after his disclosure of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)#2013" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">secret, widespread surveillance</a> by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NSA</a>, for which he faced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Criminal_charges" title="Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">criminal charges in the U.S.</a>.The day after his TV interview, Morales's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon_900" title="Dassault Falcon 900" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dassault Falcon 900</a>, carrying him back to Bolivia from Russia, took off from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vnukovo_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Vnukovo Airport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vnukovo Airport</a>, but was rerouted to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria" title="Austria" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Austria</a> when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">France</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Spain</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Italy</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-sol.sapo--2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bbc-morales-vienna-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> Snowden was in fact still in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheremetyevo_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Sheremetyevo Airport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sheremetyevo Airport</a>, where he had been staying since arriving in Russia a week earlier. An audio tape was subsequently released which appeared to be a recording of the flight crew requesting to land in Austria on the grounds they "could not get a correct indication" of their remaining fuel levels.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-washingtonpost-morales-vienna-erz%C3%A4hlungen-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table;"><ul style="list-style-image: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Forced_landing" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Forced landing</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Aftermath" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Aftermath</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#Claim_of_responsibility" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Claim of responsibility</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Forced landing[</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: right; float: right;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 172px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">President of Bolivia Evo Morales</a></div></div></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_2011.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">Austria's deputy chancellor, </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Spindelegger" title="Michael Spindelegger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Michael Spindelegger</a>, said that the plane was searched, although the Bolivian Defense Minister denied a search took place, saying Morales had denied entry to his plane.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-washingtonpost-morales-vienna-erz%C3%A4hlungen-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-in.reuters-morales-vienna-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a> The refusals for entry into French, Spanish, and Italian airspace ostensibly for "technical reasons", strongly denounced by Bolivia, Ecuador, and other South American nations, were attributed to rumors disseminated allegedly by the US that Snowden was on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bigstory.ap-morales-wien-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-edition.cnn-morales-wien-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José García-Margallo, publicly stated that they were told he was on board but did not specify as to who had informed them.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-bbc-morales-vienna-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a>Austrian media later reported that when the plane landed in Vienna to refuel, US Ambassador to Austria, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Eacho" title="William Eacho" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Eacho</a>, “claimed with great certainty that Edward Snowden was onboard” and mentioned a “diplomatic note requesting Snowden’s extradition.”<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-rt-snowden-3countries-asylum-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a>The President of Austria, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Fischer" title="Heinz Fischer" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Heinz Fischer</a>, went to greet President Morales in his plane and shared breakfast with him.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]The plane took off again after Austrian officials confirmed that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden" title="Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Edward Snowden</a> was not on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-theguardian-morales-complains-un-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Aftermath[</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: right; float: right;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 172px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ban_Ki-moon_1-2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ban_Ki-moon_1-2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">U.N. Secretary-General </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon" title="Ban Ki-moon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ban Ki-moon</a> asserted that "a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_state" title="Head of state" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">head of state</a> and his or her aircraft enjoy immunity and inviolability"</div></div></div>France apologized for the incident immediately.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-aljazeera-morales-vienna-france-apologieses-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> The Spanish ambassador to Bolivia apologized two weeks later, citing inappropriate procedures.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-ramos-2013-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> The Italians and Portuguese sent official explanations to the Bolivian Government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a>On 3 July, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen_Psaki" title="Jen Psaki" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jen Psaki</a>, spokesperson for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State" title="United States Department of State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Department of State</a>, acknowledged that the U.S. had been "in contact with a range of countries across the world who had any chance of having Mr. Snowden land or even transit through their countries".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-state-morales-us-press-briefing-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-theguardian-morales-live-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a>On 20 September, Evo Morales announced a lawsuit against the U.S. government for "crimes against humanity" for repeatedly blocking presidential flights, after an incident in which authorization for an overflight of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico" title="Puerto Rico" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Puerto Rico</a> by President Maduro of Venezuela was delayed, although U.S. authorities said that they were entitled to three days' advance notice. Maduro had been en route to arrive in Beijing for bilaterial talks with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" class="mw-redirect" title="People's Republic of China" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">People's Republic of China</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-live.huffingtonpost-morales-sue-us-gov-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>In the aftermath of the incident, seven Latin American countries – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivia</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Argentina</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cuba</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ecuador</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nicaragua</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Uruguay</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuela</a> – voiced their concerns to UN Secretary-General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-Moon" class="mw-redirect" title="Ban Ki-Moon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ban Ki-Moon</a>, who asserted that "a Head of State and his or her aircraft enjoy immunity and inviolability".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-un-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> Ban also emphasized that it is important to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-un-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Claim of responsibility[</h2>In April 2015, Wikileaks founder <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" title="Julian Assange" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Julian Assange</a> claimed to having deliberately leaked the false information about Snowden being on the plane to the U.S., as part of "special measures" to distract secret services. In response, the Bolivian ambassador to Russia demanded that Assange apologize for putting their president's life at risk. Interviewed in August 2015 by the Bolivian newspaper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Deber" title="El Deber" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">El Deber</a>, Assange stated that Wikileaks and the government of Venezuela discussed smuggling Snowden out of Russia aboard the presidential plane of either Venezuela or Bolivia. Assange did not know whether or not the Bolivian government was aware of these negotiations, and did not himself communicate with the Bolivians, but said that Venezuela should have warned Bolivia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a></div>cory d boing:<h2 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.1em 0px 0.25em; line-height: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">S<a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/03/31/94-1054-eleu-st.html" rel="bookmark" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">nowden's Box: the incredible, illuminating story of the journey of Snowden's hard drive</a></h2>
<div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Dale Maharidge is a journalist and J-school professor who is dear old friends with the muckracking, outstanding political documentarian Laura Poitras. Jessica Bruder (<a href="https://boingboing.net/?s=%22jessica%20bruder%22" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(17, 51, 170);">previously</a>) is a a writer and J-school prof who's best friends with Maharidge. When Laura Poitras was contacted by an NSA whistleblower who wanted to send her the leak of the century, she asked Maharidge for help finding a safe address for a postal delivery, and Maharidge gave her Bruder's Brooklyn apartment address. A few weeks later, Bruder came home from a work-trip to discover a box on her doormat with the return address of "B. Manning, 94-1054 Eleu St, Waipau, HI 96797." In it was a hard-drive. The story of what happened next is documented in a beautifully written, gripping new book: <a href="https://amzn.to/38pQhLR" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(17, 51, 170);">Snowden's Box: Trust in the Age of Surveillance</a>.</div>919The U.S. government is once again trying to silence Edward Snowden — this time with a lawsuit arguing that he should have allowed the CIA and NSA to censor his new memoir before publication. The book doesn’t contain any secrets that haven’t already been made public; the government simply doesn’t want more discussion and debate of the mass surveillance systems he revealed. The good news is that the six-year attempt to silence Snowden has so far failed spectacularly, in no small part because of The Intercept’s coverage. Our team spent years combing through the Snowden archive, publishing over 100 stories and partnering with major news organizations, and we continue to fearlessly report on spying by governments and corporations across the globe.<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click1.e.alternet.org/jftfmzncndswsmkkwtjnnwnkktwkcvqpfdnsjbzvfvq_dcjptjsjftccjrggcjh.html?a=&b=275&c=21989&d=2" style="">Edward Snowden: With technology, institutions have made ‘most effective means of social control in the history of our species’</a><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" font-style="font-style" italic="italic" color="color" rgb="rgb" margin="margin" padding="padding"> NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said Thursday that people in systems…
<a href="http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/3590#.Uyc1QvldWzA">http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/3590#.Uyc1QvldWzA</a>

===<table class="vertical-navbox nowraplinks hlist" style="text-align: left; clear: right; width: 22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em; background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; border-spacing: 0.4em 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><tbody><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Disclosures</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_global_surveillance" title="Origins of global surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Origins</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(1970%E2%80%932013)" title="Global surveillance disclosures (1970–2013)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Pre-2013</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">2013–present</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_global_surveillance_disclosures" title="Reactions to global surveillance disclosures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Reactions</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Systems</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XKeyscore" title="XKeyscore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">XKeyscore</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM(surveillance_program)" title="PRISM (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">PRISM</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON" title="ECHELON" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">ECHELON</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore(software)" title="Carnivore (software)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Carnivore</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISHFIRE" class="mw-redirect" title="DISHFIRE" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">DISHFIRE</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STONEGHOST" class="mw-redirect" title="STONEGHOST" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">STONEGHOST</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempora" title="Tempora" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Tempora</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenchelon" title="Frenchelon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Frenchelon</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairview(surveillance_program)" title="Fairview (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Fairview</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MYSTIC(surveillance_program)" title="MYSTIC (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">MYSTIC</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Collection_System_Network" title="Digital Collection System Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">DCSN</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant" title="Boundless Informant" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Boundless Informant</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BULLRUN" class="mw-redirect" title="BULLRUN" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">BULLRUN</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PINWALE" class="mw-redirect" title="PINWALE" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">PINWALE</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker" title="Stingray phone tracker" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Stingray</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SORM" title="SORM" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">SORM</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAMPART-A" title="RAMPART-A" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">RAMPART-A</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Agencies</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">NSA</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Intelligence_Service(Germany)" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Intelligence Service (Germany)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">BND</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_Nacional_de_Inteligencia" class="mw-redirect" title="Centro Nacional de Inteligencia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">CNI</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Security_Intelligence_Organisation" title="Australian Security Intelligence Organisation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">ASIO</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate-General_for_External_Security" title="Directorate-General for External Security" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">DGSE</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes" title="Five Eyes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Five Eyes</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service" title="Federal Security Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">FSB</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_State_Security(China)" title="Ministry of State Security (China)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">MSS</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">People</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S.Rogers" title="Michael S. Rogers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Michael S. Rogers</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_B.Alexander" title="Keith B. Alexander" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Keith Alexander</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bamford" title="James Bamford" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">James Bamford</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper" title="James Clapper" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">James Clapper</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Campbell(journalist)" title="Duncan Campbell (journalist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Duncan Campbell</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a class="mw-selflink selflink" style="text-decoration: inherit; background: none; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;">Edward Snowden</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Tice" title="Russ Tice" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Russ Tice</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">George W. Bush</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_on_mass_surveillance" title="Barack Obama on mass surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Barack Obama</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" title="Julian Assange" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Julian Assange</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Places</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doughnut" title="The Doughnut" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">The Doughnut</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_George_G.Meade" title="Fort George G. Meade" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Fort Meade</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menwith_Hill" class="mw-redirect" title="Menwith Hill" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Menwith Hill</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Gap" title="Pine Gap" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Pine Gap</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Cable#Spying_and_interception" title="Southern Cross Cable" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Southern Cross Cable</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center" title="Utah Data Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Utah Data Center</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Aibling_Station" title="Bad Aibling Station" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Bad Aibling Station</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger_Complex" title="Dagger Complex" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Dagger Complex</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Laws</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;">Five Eyes <ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement" title="UKUSA Agreement" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">UKUSA Agreement</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustre(code_name)" class="mw-redirect" title="Lustre (code name)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Lustre</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;">U.S.<ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act" title="USA Freedom Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">USA Freedom Act</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act_of_1978_Amendments_Act_of_2008" title="Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">FISA amendments</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;">EU<ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Retention_Directive" title="Data Retention Directive" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Data Retention Directive</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive" title="Data Protection Directive" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Data Protection Directive</a></li></ul></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Proposed changes</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;">U.S. <ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FISA_Improvements_Act" title="FISA Improvements Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">FISA Improvements Act</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_reforms_of_mass_surveillance_by_the_United_States" title="Proposed reforms of mass surveillance by the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Other proposals</a></li></ul></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Concepts</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance" title="Mass surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Mass surveillance</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_fear" title="Culture of fear" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Culture of fear</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_communication" title="Secure communication" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Secure communication</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signals_intelligence" title="Signals intelligence" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">SIGINT</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_detail_record" title="Call detail record" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Call detail record</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_issues_in_smart_cities" title="Surveillance issues in smart cities" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Surveillance issues in smart cities</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><th style="padding: 0.1em; background: rgb(178, 190, 181);">Related topics</th></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0px 0.1em 0.4em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage" title="Espionage" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Espionage</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_agency" title="Intelligence agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Intelligence agency</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptography" title="Cryptography" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Cryptography</a> <ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)" title="Tor (anonymity network)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Tor</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network" title="Virtual private network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">VPNs</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security" title="Transport Layer Security" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">TLS</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Human rights</a> <ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" display="display" inline="inline" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_privacy" title="Right to privacy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Privacy</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties" title="Civil liberties" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Liberty</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite" title="Satellite" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Satellites</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Watching_Us" title="Stop Watching Us" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Stop Watching Us</a></li><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_hide_argument" title="Nothing to hide argument" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Nothing to hide argument</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="plainlist" style="padding: 0.3em 0.4em; font-weight: bold; border-top: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none none; line-height: inherit;"><li style="margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stylized_eye.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;"><img alt="Stylized eye.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Stylized_eye.svg/16px-Stylized_eye.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="6" class="noviewer" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Stylized_eye.svg/24px-Stylized_eye.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Stylized_eye.svg/32px-Stylized_eye.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="450" data-file-height="180" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" /></a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mass_surveillance" title="Portal:Mass surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Mass surveillance portal</a></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>

=<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden</a>Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American whistle-blower who copied and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_leak" title="News leak" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">leaked</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States" title="Classified information in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">highly classified information</a> from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">National Security Agency</a>(NSA) in 2013 when he was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency" title="Central Intelligence Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Central Intelligence Agency</a> (CIA) employee and contractor. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">His disclosures</a> revealed numerous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance" title="Global surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">global surveillance</a> programs, many run by the NSA and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes" title="Five Eyes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance</a> with the cooperation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_company" title="Telephone company" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">telecommunication companies</a> and European governments, and prompted a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_global_surveillance_disclosures" title="Reactions to global surveillance disclosures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">cultural discussion</a>about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security" title="National security" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">national security</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy" title="Privacy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">individual privacy</a>.In 2013, Snowden was hired by an NSA contractor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booz_Allen_Hamilton" title="Booz Allen Hamilton" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Booz Allen Hamilton</a>, after previous employment with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell" title="Dell" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Dell</a> and the CIA.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[1]</a> Snowden says he gradually became disillusioned with the programs with which he was involved and that he tried to raise his ethical concerns through internal channels but was ignored. On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hong Kong</a> after leaving his job at an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_Cryptologic_Center" title="Hawaii Cryptologic Center" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">NSA facility in Hawaii</a>, and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald" title="Glenn Greenwald" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Glenn Greenwald</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras" title="Laura Poitras" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Laura Poitras</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewen_MacAskill" title="Ewen MacAskill" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Ewen MacAskill</a>. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in <span style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The Guardian and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post" title="The Washington Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Washington Post</a>. Further disclosures were made by other publications including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Spiegel" title="Der Spiegel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Der Spiegel</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The New York Times</a>.On June 21, 2013, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" title="United States Department of Justice" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Department of Justice</a> unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917" title="Espionage Act of 1917" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Espionage Act of 1917</a> and theft of government property,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-wapocharges-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> following which the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State" title="United States Department of State" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Department of State</a> revoked his passport.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-KerryPassport-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> Two days later, he flew into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow" title="Moscow" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Moscow</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheremetyevo_International_Airport" title="Sheremetyevo International Airport" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Sheremetyevo Airport</a>, but Russian authorities noted that his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport" title="United States passport" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. passport</a> had been cancelled, and he was restricted to the airport terminal for over one month. Russia later granted Snowden the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_asylum" title="Right of asylum" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">right of asylum</a> with an initial visa for residence for one year, and repeated extensions have permitted him to stay at least until 2020. In early 2016, he became the president of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_Press_Foundation" title="Freedom of the Press Foundation" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Freedom of the Press Foundation</a>, an organization that aims to protect journalists from hacking and government surveillance.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[4]</a> As of 2017, he was living in an undisclosed location in Moscow.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; z-index: -1; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; direction: ltr;">
</div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Background</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Childhood,family,and_education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.1Childhood, family, and education</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Political_views" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.2Political views</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.3Career</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Employment_at_CIA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.3.1Employment at CIA</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#NSA_sub-contractee_as_an_employee_for_Dell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.3.2NSA sub-contractee as an employee for Dell</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Global_surveillance_disclosures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Global surveillance disclosures</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Release_of_NSA_documents" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.1Release of NSA documents</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Publication" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.2Publication</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Revelations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.3Revelations</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Motivations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.4Motivations</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Flight_from_the_United_States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Flight from the United States</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Hong_Kong" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.1Hong Kong</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2Russia</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Morales_plane_incident" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2.1Morales plane incident</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Asylum_applications" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2.2Asylum applications</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Criminal_charges" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Criminal charges</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Asylum_in_Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Asylum in Russia</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Reaction" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Reaction</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#United_States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1United States</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Government_officials" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1.1Government officials</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Debate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1.2Debate</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Presidential_panel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1.3Presidential panel</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Court_rulings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1.4Court rulings</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#USA_Freedom_Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1.5USA Freedom Act</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-26" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Europe" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.2Europe</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-27" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#International_community" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.3International community</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-28" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Public_opinion_polls" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.4Public opinion polls</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-29" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Recognition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.5Recognition</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-30" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Teleconference_speaking_engagements" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.6Teleconference speaking engagements</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-31" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#The%22Snowden_Effect%22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.7The "Snowden Effect"</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-32" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Jewel_v.NSA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7Jewel v. NSA</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-33" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#In_popular_culture" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8In popular culture</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-34" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">9See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-35" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Notes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">10Notes</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-36" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">11References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-37" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Further_reading" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">12Further reading</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-38" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">13External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Background</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Childhood, family, and education</h3>Edward Joseph Snowden was born on June 21, 1983,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BirthDate-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_City,North_Carolina" title="Elizabeth City, North Carolina" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Elizabeth City, North Carolina</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-snowdenhasdoc-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> His maternal grandfather, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_J.Barrett" title="Edward J. Barrett" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Edward J. Barrett</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a> a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_admiral" title="Rear admiral" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">rear admiral</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard" title="United States Coast Guard" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Coast Guard</a>, became a senior official with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation" title="Federal Bureau of Investigation" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">FBI</a> and was at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pentagon" title="The Pentagon" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">the Pentagon</a> in 2001 during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks" title="September 11 attacks" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">September 11 attacks</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Motive_Revealed-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[10]</a> Snowden's father, Lonnie, was also an officer in the Coast Guard,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> and his mother, Elizabeth, is a clerk at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_District_of_Maryland" title="United States District Court for the District of Maryland" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Snowden-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated7-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> His older sister, Jessica, was a lawyer at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Judicial_Center" title="Federal Judicial Center" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Federal Judicial Center</a> in Washington, D.C. Edward Snowden said that he had expected to work for the federal government, as had the rest of his family.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> His parents divorced in 2001,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Timeline-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a> and his father remarried.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a> Snowden scored above 145 on two separate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient" title="Intelligence quotient" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">IQ</a> tests.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>In the early 1990s, while still in grade school, Snowden moved with his family to the area of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Meade,Maryland" title="Fort Meade, Maryland" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Fort Meade, Maryland</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Man_Who_Spilled-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_mononucleosis" title="Infectious mononucleosis" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Mononucleosis</a> caused him to miss high school for almost nine months.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> Rather than returning to school, he passed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Educational_Development" title="General Educational Development" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">GED</a> test<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-reveal-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> and took classes at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Arundel_Community_College" title="Anne Arundel Community College" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Anne Arundel Community College</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Snowden-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a> Although Snowden had no undergraduate college degree,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Despiteresume-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a> he worked online toward a master's degree at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Liverpool" title="University of Liverpool" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">University of Liverpool</a>, England, in 2011.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a> He was interested in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_popular_culture" title="Japanese popular culture" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Japanese popular culture</a>, had studied the Japanese language,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a> and worked for an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime" title="Anime" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">anime</a> company that had a resident office in the U.S.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[26]</a> He also said he had a basic understanding of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Mandarin Chinese</a> and was deeply interested in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts" title="Martial arts" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">martial arts</a>. At age 20, he listed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Buddhism</a> as his religion on a military recruitment form, noting that the choice of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic" class="mw-redirect" title="Agnostic" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">agnostic</a>was "strangely absent."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nyt-ambition-27" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">[27]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Political views</h3>Snowden has said that, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,2008" class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2008 presidential election</a>, he voted for a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party(United_States)" title="Third party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">third-party</a> candidate, though he "believed in Obama's promises." Following the election, he believed President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Barack Obama</a> was continuing policies espoused by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George W. Bush</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-qa-28" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[28]</a>In accounts published in June 2013, interviewers noted that Snowden's laptop displayed stickers supporting Internet freedom organizations including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation" title="Electronic Frontier Foundation" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> (EFF) and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor(anonymity_network)" title="Tor (anonymity network)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Tor Project</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-reveal-21" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-reveal-21" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">21]</a> A week after publication of his leaks began, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_Technica" title="Ars Technica" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ars Technica</a> confirmed that Snowden had been an active participant at the site's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum" title="Internet forum" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">online forum</a> from 2001 through May 2012, discussing a variety of topics under the pseudonym "TheTrueHOOHA."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-mullin20130614-29" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[29]</a> In a January 2009 entry, TheTrueHOOHA exhibited strong support for the U.S. security state apparatus and said leakers of classified information "should be shot in the balls."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-arstechnica.com-30" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[30]</a> However, Snowden disliked Obama's CIA director appointment of Leon Panetta, saying "Obama just named a fucking politician to run the CIA."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-newrepublic-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a> Snowden was also offended by a possible ban on assault weapons, writing "Me and all my lunatic, gun-toting NRA compatriots would be on the steps of Congress before the C-Span feed finished."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-newrepublic-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a> Snowden disliked Obama's economic policies, was against Social Security, and favored <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Ron Paul</a>'s call for a return to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard" title="Gold standard" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">gold standard</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-newrepublic-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a> In 2014, Snowden supported a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income" title="Basic income" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">basic income</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[32]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Career</h3>Feeling a duty to fight in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War" title="Iraq War" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Iraq War</a> to help free oppressed people,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-reveal-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> Snowden enlisted in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Reserve" title="United States Army Reserve" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States Army Reserve</a> on May 7, 2004, and became a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_special_operations_forces" title="United States special operations forces" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Special Forces</a> candidate through its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces(United_States_Army)#Special_Forces_MOS_descriptions" title="Special Forces (United States Army)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">18X</a> enlistment option.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-33" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[33]</a> He did not complete the training.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BirthDate-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> After breaking both legs in a training accident,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a> he was discharged on September 28, 2004.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-35" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[35]</a>Snowden was then employed for less than a year in 2005 as a security guard at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Maryland" class="mw-redirect" title="University of Maryland" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">University of Maryland's</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Advanced_Study_of_Language" title="Center for Advanced Study of Language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center for Advanced Study of Language</a>, a research center sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-36" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[36]</a> According to the University, this is not a classified facility,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[37]</a> though it is heavily guarded.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-38" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a> In June 2014, Snowden told <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired(magazine)" title="Wired (magazine)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Wired</a> that his job as a security guard required a high-level <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_clearance" title="Security clearance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">security clearance</a>, for which he passed a polygraph exam and underwent a stringent background check.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Employment at CIA</h4>After attending a 2006 job-fair focused on intelligence agencies, Snowden accepted an offer for a position at the CIA.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-JacobJijo-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a> The Agency assigned him to the global communications division at CIA headquarters in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley,Virginia" title="Langley, Virginia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Langley, Virginia</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>In May 2006, Snowden wrote in Ars Technica that he had no trouble getting work because he was a "computer wizard".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nyt-ambition-27" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[27]</a> After distinguishing himself as a junior employee on the top computer-team, Snowden was sent to the CIA's secret school for technology specialists, where he lived in a hotel for six months while studying and training full-time.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>In March 2007, the CIA stationed Snowden with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_cover" class="mw-redirect" title="Diplomatic cover" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">diplomatic cover</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva" title="Geneva" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Geneva</a>, Switzerland, where he was responsible for maintaining computer-network security.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[40]</a> Assigned to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Mission_to_the_United_Nations" title="United States Mission to the United Nations" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_mission" title="Diplomatic mission" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">diplomatic mission</a> representing U.S. interests before the UN and other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="International organizations" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">international organizations</a>, Snowden received a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_passport" class="mw-redirect" title="Diplomatic passport" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">diplomatic passport</a> and a four-bedroom apartment near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Geneva" title="Lake Geneva" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Lake Geneva</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>According to Greenwald, while there Snowden was "considered the top technical and cybersecurity expert" in that country and "was hand-picked by the CIA to support the president at the 2008 NATO summit in Romania".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[41]</a> Snowden described his CIA experience in Geneva as formative, stating that the CIA deliberately got a Swiss banker drunk and encouraged him to drive home. Snowden said that when the latter was arrested, a CIA operative offered to help in exchange for the banker becoming an informant.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[42]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ueli_Maurer" title="Ueli Maurer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Ueli Maurer</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Swiss_Confederation" title="President of the Swiss Confederation" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">President of the Swiss Confederation</a> for the year 2013, in June of that year publicly disputed Snowden's claims. "This would mean that the CIA successfully bribed the Geneva police and judiciary. With all due respect, I just can't imagine it," said Maurer.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[43]</a> In February 2009, Snowden resigned from the CIA.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-from-loyal-44" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-from-loyal-44" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">44]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">NSA sub-contractee as an employee for Dell</h4>In 2009, Snowden began work as a contractee for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell" title="Dell" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Dell</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ReutersDell-45" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[45]</a> which manages computer systems for multiple government agencies. Assigned to an NSA facility at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokota_Air_Base" title="Yokota Air Base" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Yokota Air Base</a> near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo" title="Tokyo" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Tokyo</a>, Snowden instructed top officials and military officers on how to defend their networks from Chinese hackers.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> During his four years with Dell, he rose from supervising NSA computer system upgrades to working as what his résumé termed a "cyberstrategist" and an "expert in cyber counterintelligence" at several U.S. locations.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-DrewShaneNYT-46" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[46]</a> In 2011, he returned to Maryland, where he spent a year as lead technologist on Dell's CIA account. In that capacity, he was consulted by the chiefs of the CIA's technical branches, including the agency's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_information_officer" title="Chief information officer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">chief information officer</a> and its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_technology_officer" title="Chief technology officer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">chief technology officer</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the investigation said Snowden began downloading documents describing the government's electronic spying programs while working for Dell in April 2012.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ReutersDell-45" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[45]</a> Investigators estimated that of the 50,000 to 200,000 documents Snowden gave to Greenwald and Poitras, most were copied by Snowden while working at Dell.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">1]</a>In March 2012, Dell reassigned Snowden to Hawaii as lead technologist for the NSA's information-sharing office.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> At the time of his departure from the U.S. in May 2013, he had been employed for 15 months inside the NSA's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunia_Regional_SIGINT_Operations_Center" title="Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hawaii regional operations center</a>, which focuses on the electronic monitoring of China and North Korea,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[1]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-47" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[47]</a> the last three of which were with consulting firm <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booz_Allen_Hamilton" title="Booz Allen Hamilton" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Booz Allen Hamilton</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Two-Person-48" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[48]</a> While intelligence officials have described his position there as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_administrator" title="System administrator" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">system administrator</a>, Snowden has said he was an infrastructure analyst, which meant that his job was to look for new ways to break into Internet and telephone traffic around the world.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nytinfrastructure-49" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[49]</a> On March 15, 2013—three days after what he later called his "breaking point" of "seeing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_National_Intelligence" title="Director of National Intelligence" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Director of National Intelligence</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper" title="James Clapper" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">James Clapper</a>, directly lie under oath to Congress"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ARDtranscript-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a>—Snowden quit his job at Dell.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Epstein-51" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[51]</a> Although he has said his career high annual salary was $200,000,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-52" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[52]</a> Snowden said he took a pay cut to work at Booz Allen,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-qa-53" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[53]</a> where he sought employment in order to gather data and then release details of the NSA's worldwide surveillance activity.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-SCMPJune24-54" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[54]</a> An anonymous source told <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters" title="Reuters" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Reuters</a> that, while in Hawaii, Snowden may have persuaded 20–25 co-workers to give him their logins credentials by telling them he needed them to do his job.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-55" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[55]</a> The NSA sent a memo to Congress saying that Snowden had tricked a fellow employee into sharing his personal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure" title="Public key infrastructure" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">public key infrastructure</a> certificate to gain greater access to the NSA's computer system.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-56" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[56]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-57" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[57]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-58" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[58]</a> Snowden disputed the memo,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-59" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[59]</a> saying in January 2014, "I never stole any passwords, nor did I trick an army of co-workers."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPo01242014-60" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[60]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-live-61" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[61]</a> Booz Allen terminated Snowden's employment on June 10, 2013, one month after he had left the country.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-20130611usatoday-62" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">[62]</a>A former NSA co-worker said that although the NSA was full of smart people, Snowden was a "genius among geniuses" who created a widely implemented backup system for the NSA and often pointed out security flaws to the agency. The former colleague said Snowden was given full administrator privileges with virtually unlimited access to NSA data. Snowden was offered a position on the NSA's elite team of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker(computer_security)" class="mw-redirect" title="Hacker (computer security)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">hackers</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailored_Access_Operations" title="Tailored Access Operations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tailored Access Operations</a>, but turned it down to join Booz Allen.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-63" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[63]</a> An anonymous source later said that Booz Allen's hiring screeners found possible discrepancies in Snowden's resume but still decided to hire him.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Despiteresume-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a> Snowden's résumé stated that he attended computer-related classes at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University" title="Johns Hopkins University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Johns Hopkins University</a>. A spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins said that the university did not find records to show that Snowden attended the university, and suggested that he may instead have attended Advanced Career Technologies, a private for-profit organization that operated as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Career_Institute" title="American Career Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Computer Career Institute</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University" title="Johns Hopkins University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Johns Hopkins University</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Despiteresume-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a> The University of Maryland University College acknowledged that Snowden had attended a summer session at a UM campus in Asia. Snowden's résumé stated that he estimated that he would receive a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Liverpool" title="University of Liverpool" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">University of Liverpool</a> computer security master's degree in 2013. The university said that Snowden registered for an online master's degree program in computer security in 2011 but was inactive as a student and had not completed the program.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Despiteresume-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a>Snowden has said that he had told multiple employees and two supervisors about his concerns, but the NSA disputes his claim.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WPSnowdenInterview20131224-64" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[64]</a> Snowden elaborated in January 2014, saying "[I] made tremendous efforts to report these programs to co-workers, supervisors, and anyone with the proper clearance who would listen. The reactions of those I told about the scale of the constitutional violations ranged from deeply concerned to appalled, but no one was willing to risk their jobs, families, and possibly even freedom to go through what [Thomas Andrews] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews_Drake" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas Andrews Drake" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Drake</a> did."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-live-61" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[61]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-newyorker01232014-65" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[65]</a> In March 2014, during testimony to the European Parliament, Snowden wrote that before revealing classified information he had reported "clearly problematic programs" to ten officials, who he said did nothing in response.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPo10reports-66" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[66]</a> In a May 2014 interview, Snowden told <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_News" title="NBC News" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NBC News</a> that after bringing his concerns about the legality of the NSA spying programs to officials, he was told to stay silent on the matter. He asserted that the NSA had copies of emails he sent to their Office of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Counsel" class="mw-redirect" title="General Counsel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">General Counsel</a>, oversight and compliance personnel broaching "concerns about the NSA's interpretations of its legal authorities. I had raised these complaints not just officially in writing through email, but to my supervisors, to my colleagues, in more than one office."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Motive_Revealed-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>In May 2014, U.S. officials released a single email that Snowden had written in April 2013 inquiring about legal authorities but said that they had found no other evidence that Snowden had expressed his concerns to someone in an oversight position.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-67" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[67]</a> In June 2014, the NSA said it had not been able to find any records of Snowden raising internal complaints about the agency's operations.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-68" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[68]</a> That same month, Snowden explained that he himself has not produced the communiqués in question because of the ongoing nature of the dispute, disclosing for the first time that "I am working with the NSA in regard to these records and we're going back and forth, so I don't want to reveal everything that will come out."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-69" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[69]</a>In his May 2014 interview with NBC News, Snowden accused the U.S. government of trying to use one position here or there in his career to distract from the totality of his experience, downplaying him as a "low level analyst." In his words, he was "trained as a spy in the traditional sense of the word in that I lived and worked undercover overseas—pretending to work in a job that I'm not—and even being assigned a name that was not mine." He said he'd worked for the NSA undercover overseas, and for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Intelligence_Agency" title="Defense Intelligence Agency" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">DIA</a> had developed sources and methods to keep information and people secure "in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world. So when they say I'm a low-level systems administrator, that I don't know what I'm talking about, I'd say it's somewhat misleading."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Motive_Revealed-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> In a June interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globo_TV" class="mw-redirect" title="Globo TV" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Globo TV</a>, Snowden reiterated that he "was actually functioning at a very senior level."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-70" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[70]</a> In a July interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Guardian</a>, Snowden explained that, during his NSA career, "I began to move from merely overseeing these systems to actively directing their use. Many people don’t understand that I was actually an analyst and I designated individuals and groups for targeting."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-EditedTranscript-71" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[71]</a> Snowden subsequently told Wired that while at Dell in 2011, "I would sit down with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_information_officer" title="Chief information officer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">CIO</a> of the CIA, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_technology_officer" title="Chief technology officer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">CTO</a> of the CIA, the chiefs of all the technical branches. They would tell me their hardest technology problems, and it was my job to come up with a way to fix them."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>Of his time as an NSA analyst, directing the work of others, Snowden recalled a moment when he and his colleagues began to have severe ethical doubts. Snowden said 18 to 22-year-old analysts were suddenly "thrust into a position of extraordinary responsibility, where they now have access to all your private records. In the course of their daily work, they stumble across something that is completely unrelated in any sort of necessary sense—for example, an intimate nude photo of someone in a sexually compromising situation. But they're extremely attractive. So what do they do? They turn around in their chair and they show a co-worker ... and sooner or later this person's whole life has been seen by all of these other people." As Snowden observed it, this behavior happened routinely every two months but was never reported, being considered one of the "fringe benefits" of the work.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Ispy-72" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[72]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Global surveillance disclosures</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)</a></div>The exact size of Snowden's disclosure is unknown,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated6-73" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[73]</a> but Australian officials have estimated 15,000 or more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Intelligence_Community" title="Australian Intelligence Community" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Australian intelligence</a> files<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-australian20k-74" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[74]</a> and British officials estimate at least 58,000 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies_of_the_United_Kingdom" class="mw-redirect" title="List of intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">British intelligence</a> files.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-75" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[75]</a> NSA Director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_B.Alexander" title="Keith B. Alexander" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Keith Alexander</a> initially estimated that Snowden had copied anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 NSA documents.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Hosenball-76" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[76]</a> Later estimates provided by U.S. officials were on the order of 1.7 million,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-mostpentagon-77" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[77]</a> a number that originally came from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense" title="United States Department of Defense" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Department of Defense</a> talking points.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ViceNewsJune2015-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a> In July 2014, The Washington Post reported on a cache previously provided by Snowden from domestic NSA operations consisting of "roughly 160,000 intercepted e-mail and instant-message conversations, some of them hundreds of pages long, and 7,900 documents taken from more than 11,000 online accounts."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPoTargets-79" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[79]</a> A U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Intelligence_Agency" title="Defense Intelligence Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Defense Intelligence Agency</a> report declassified in June 2015 said that Snowden took 900,000 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense" title="United States Department of Defense" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Department of Defense</a> files, more than he downloaded from the NSA.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ViceNewsJune2015-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a>In March 2014, Army General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Dempsey" title="Martin Dempsey" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Martin Dempsey</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman_of_the_Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff" title="Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff</a>, told the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Armed_Services" title="United States House Committee on Armed Services" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">House Armed Services Committee</a>, "The vast majority of the documents that Snowden ... exfiltrated from our highest levels of security ... had nothing to do with exposing government oversight of domestic activities. The vast majority of those were related to our military capabilities, operations, tactics, techniques and procedures."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-80" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[80]</a> When asked in a May 2014 interview to quantify the number of documents Snowden stole, retired NSA director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_B.Alexander" title="Keith B. Alexander" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Keith Alexander</a> said there was no accurate way of counting what he took, but Snowden may have downloaded more than a million documents.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-AlexanderTrascriptDontKnowWhatHeTook-81" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[81]</a>According to Snowden, he did not indiscriminately turn over documents to journalists, stating that "I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest. There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-GuardianGreenwaldFirstVideo-82" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[82]</a> and that "I have to screen everything before releasing it to journalists ... If I have time to go through this information, I would like to make it available to journalists in each country."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-SCMPJune24-54" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[54]</a> Despite these measures, the improper redaction of a document by The New York Times resulted in the exposure of intelligence activity against al-Qaeda.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-83" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[83]</a>In June 2014, the NSA's recently installed director, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Navy</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral(United_States)" title="Admiral (United States)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Admiral</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S.Rogers" title="Michael S. Rogers" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Michael S. Rogers</a>, said that while some terrorist groups had altered their communications to avoid surveillance techniques revealed by Snowden, the damage done was not significant enough to conclude that "the sky is falling."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-SkyNotFalling-84" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[84]</a> Nevertheless, in February 2015, Rogers said that Snowden's disclosures had a material impact on the NSA's detection and evaluation of terrorist activities worldwide.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-85" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[85]</a>On 14 June 2015, UK's Sunday Times reported that Russian and Chinese intelligence services had decrypted more than 1 million classified files in the Snowden cache, forcing the UK's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6" class="mw-redirect" title="MI6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MI6</a> intelligence agency to move agents out of live operations in hostile countries. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_David_Omand" class="mw-redirect" title="Sir David Omand" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sir David Omand</a>, a former director of the UK's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCHQ" class="mw-redirect" title="GCHQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">GCHQ</a> intelligence gathering agency, described it as a huge strategic setback that was harming Britain, America, and their NATO allies. The Sunday Times said it was not clear whether Russia and China stole Snowden's data or whether Snowden voluntarily handed it over to remain at liberty in Hong Kong and Moscow.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-86" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[86]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-87" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[87]</a> In April 2015 the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jackson_Society" title="Henry Jackson Society" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Henry Jackson Society</a>, a British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Neoconservative" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">neoconservative</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank" title="Think tank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">think tank</a>, published a report claiming that Snowden's intelligence leaks negatively impacted Britain's ability to fight terrorism and organized crime.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-88" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[88]</a> Gus Hosein, executive director of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_International" title="Privacy International" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Privacy International</a>, criticized the report for, in his opinion, presuming that the public became concerned about privacy only after Snowden's disclosures.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-89" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[89]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Release of NSA documents</h3>Snowden's decision to leak NSA documents developed gradually following his March 2007 posting as a technician to the Geneva CIA station.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Risen-90" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[90]</a> Snowden first made contact with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald" title="Glenn Greenwald" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Glenn Greenwald</a>, a journalist working at The Guardian, on December 1, 2012.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Maass-91" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[91]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Reitman-92" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[92]</a> He contacted Greenwald anonymously as "Cincinnatus"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-93" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[93]</a> and said he had sensitive documents that he would like to share.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated1-94" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[94]</a> Greenwald found the measures that the source asked him to take to secure their communications, such as encrypting email, too annoying to employ. Snowden then contacted documentary filmmaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras" title="Laura Poitras" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Laura Poitras</a> in January 2013.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-poitras-how-95" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[95]</a> According to Poitras, Snowden chose to contact her after seeing her New York Times article about NSA whistleblower <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Binney(U.S.intelligence_official)" class="mw-redirect" title="William Binney (U.S. intelligence official)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">William Binney</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-96" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[96]</a> What originally attracted Snowden to both Greenwald and Poitras was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon(website)" title="Salon (website)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Salon</a> article written by Greenwald detailing how Poitras' controversial films had made her a target of the government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated1-94" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[94]</a>Greenwald began working with Snowden in either February<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-politico-journalist-spat-97" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[97]</a> or April 2013, after Poitras asked Greenwald to meet her in New York City, at which point Snowden began providing documents to them.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Maass-91" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[91]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_Gellman" title="Barton Gellman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Barton Gellman</a>, writing for The Washington Post, says his first direct contact was on May 16, 2013.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gellman-recount-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[98]</a> According to Gellman, Snowden approached Greenwald after the Post declined to guarantee publication within 72 hours of all 41 PowerPoint slides that Snowden had leaked exposing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM(surveillance_program)" title="PRISM (surveillance program)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">PRISM</a> electronic data mining program, and to publish online an encrypted code allowing Snowden to later prove that he was the source.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gellman-recount-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[98]</a>Snowden communicated using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_encryption" title="Email encryption" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">encrypted email</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-poitras-how-95" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[95]</a> and going by the codename "<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verax" class="extiw" title="wikt:verax" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Verax</a>". He asked not to be quoted at length for fear of identification by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylometry" title="Stylometry" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">stylometry</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gellman-recount-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[98]</a>According to Gellman, prior to their first meeting in person, Snowden wrote, "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gellman-recount-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[98]</a> Snowden also told Gellman that until the articles were published, the journalists working with him would also be at mortal risk from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Intelligence_Community" title="United States Intelligence Community" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">United States Intelligence Community</a> "if they think you are the single point of failure that could stop this disclosure and make them the sole owner of this information."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gellman-recount-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[98]</a>In May 2013, Snowden was permitted temporary leave from his position at the NSA in Hawaii, on the pretext of receiving treatment for his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy" title="Epilepsy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">epilepsy</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian-reveal-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> In mid-May, Snowden gave an electronic interview to Poitras and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Appelbaum" title="Jacob Appelbaum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jacob Appelbaum</a> which was published weeks later by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Spiegel" title="Der Spiegel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Der Spiegel</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Der_Spiegel-99" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[99]</a>After disclosing the copied documents, Snowden promised that nothing would stop subsequent disclosures. In June 2013, he said, "All I can say right now is the US government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-100" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[100]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Publication</h3>On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hong Kong</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-GuardianGreenwaldFirstVideo-82" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[82]</a> where he was staying when the initial articles based on the leaked documents were published,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-101" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[101]</a> beginning with The Guardian on June 5.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-102" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[102]</a> Greenwald later said Snowden disclosed 9,000 to 10,000 documents.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-103" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[103]</a>Within months, documents had been obtained and published by media outlets worldwide, most notably The Guardian (Britain), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Spiegel" title="Der Spiegel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Der Spiegel</a> (Germany), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post" title="The Washington Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The Washington Post</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The New York Times</a> (U.S.), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Globo" title="O Globo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">O Globo</a>(Brazil), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Monde" title="Le Monde" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Le Monde</a> (France), and similar outlets in Sweden, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Australia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-104" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[104]</a> In 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC" title="NBC" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">NBC</a> broke its first story based on the leaked documents.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCGreenwaldSIGDEV-105" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[105]</a> In February 2014, for reporting based on Snowden's leaks, journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman and The Guardian′s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewen_MacAskill" title="Ewen MacAskill" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Ewen MacAskill</a> were honored as co-recipients of the 2013 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Polk_Award" class="mw-redirect" title="George Polk Award" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">George Polk Award</a>, which they dedicated to Snowden.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-GuardianPolkDedication-106" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[106]</a> The NSA reporting by these journalists also earned The Guardian and The Washington Post the 2014 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Public_Service" title="Pulitzer Prize for Public Service" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Pulitzer Prize for Public Service</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PoliticoSnowdensPrize-107" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[107]</a> for exposing the "widespread surveillance" and for helping to spark a "huge public debate about the extent of the government's spying". The Guardian's chief editor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rusbridger" title="Alan Rusbridger" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Alan Rusbridger</a>, credited Snowden for having performed a public service.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-HuffPoPulitzer-108" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[108]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Revelations[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=10&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Revelations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures(2013%E2%80%93present)" title="Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)</a></div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: -0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM(surveillance_program)#Responses_to_disclosures" title="PRISM (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PRISM (surveillance program) § Responses to disclosures</a></div><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="text-align: left; min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NSA_Muscular_Google_Cloud.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NSA_Muscular_Google_Cloud.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Slide from an NSA presentation on "Google Cloud Exploitation" from its </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR(surveillance_program)" title="MUSCULAR (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MUSCULAR</a> program;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated10-109" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[109]</a> the sketch shows where the "Public Internet" meets the internal "Google Cloud" where user data resides.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated11-110" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[110]</a></div></div></div><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="text-align: left; min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_intelligence_budget.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_intelligence_budget.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Data visualization of U.S. intelligence </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_budget" title="Black budget" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">black budget</a> (2013)</div></div></div>The ongoing publication of leaked documents has revealed previously unknown details of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance" title="Global surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">global surveillance</a> apparatus run by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States' NSA</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-guardian1-111" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[111]</a> in close cooperation with three of its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes" title="Five Eyes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Five Eyes</a> partners: Australia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Signals_Directorate" title="Australian Signals Directorate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ASD</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-112" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[112]</a> the UK's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Headquarters" title="Government Communications Headquarters" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">GCHQ</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-gchqpartner-113" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[113]</a> and Canada's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Security_Establishment_Canada" class="mw-redirect" title="Communications Security Establishment Canada" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">CSEC</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-cbcspy-114" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[114]</a><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="text-align: left; min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prism-slide-8.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prism-slide-8.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">PRISM: a </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_operation" title="Clandestine operation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">clandestine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance" title="Global surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">surveillance</a> program under which the NSA collects user data from companies like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Microsoft</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google" title="Google" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Google</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc." title="Apple Inc." style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Apple</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo" class="mw-redirect" title="Yahoo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yahoo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook" title="Facebook" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube" title="YouTube" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">YouTube</a>.</div></div></div>On June 5, 2013, media reports documenting the existence and functions of classified surveillance programs and their scope began and continued throughout the entire year. The first program to be revealed was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM(surveillance_program)" title="PRISM (surveillance program)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">PRISM</a>, which allows for court-approved direct access to Americans' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google" title="Google" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Google</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo" class="mw-redirect" title="Yahoo" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Yahoo</a> accounts, reported from both The Washington Post and The Guardian published one hour apart.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated10-109" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[109]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Greenwald1-115" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[115]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-116" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[116]</a> Barton Gellman of The Washington Post was the first journalist to report on Snowden's documents. He said the U.S. government urged him not to specify by name which companies were involved, but Gellman decided that to name them "would make it real to Americans."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-117" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[117]</a> Reports also revealed details of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempora" title="Tempora" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Tempora</a>, a British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-ops" class="mw-redirect" title="Black-ops" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">black-ops</a> surveillance program run by the NSA's British partner, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCHQ" class="mw-redirect" title="GCHQ" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">GCHQ</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Greenwald1-115" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[115]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nytgchq-118" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[118]</a> The initial reports included details about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_call_database" class="mw-redirect" title="NSA call database" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">NSA call database</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant" title="Boundless Informant" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Boundless Informant</a>, and of a secret court order requiring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon" class="mw-redirect" title="Verizon" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Verizon</a> to hand the NSA millions of Americans' phone records daily,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-119" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[119]</a> the surveillance of French citizens' phone and Internet records, and those of "high-profile individuals from the world of business or politics."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-120" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[120]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-121" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[121]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-122" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[122]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XKeyscore" title="XKeyscore" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">XKeyscore</a>, an analytical tool that allows for collection of "almost anything done on the internet," was described by The Guardian as a program that shed light on one of Snowden's most controversial statements: "I, sitting at my desk [could] wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-123" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[123]</a>The NSA's top-secret <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_budget" title="Black budget" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">black budget</a>, obtained from Snowden by The Washington Post, exposed the successes and failures of the 16 spy agencies comprising the U.S. intelligence community,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-124" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[124]</a> and revealed that the NSA was paying U.S. private tech companies for clandestine access to their communications networks.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-125" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[125]</a> The agencies were allotted $52 billion for the 2013 fiscal year.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-126" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[126]</a>It was revealed that the NSA was harvesting millions of email and instant messaging contact lists,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-127" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[127]</a> searching email content,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-128" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[128]</a> tracking and mapping the location of cell phones,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-129" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[129]</a> undermining attempts at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encryption" title="Encryption" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">encryption</a> via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullrun(code_name)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bullrun (code name)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bullrun</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NYT9513-130" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[130]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-register20130905-131" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[131]</a> and that the agency was using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookies" class="mw-redirect" title="HTTP cookies" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">cookies</a> to piggyback on the same tools used by Internet advertisers "to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-132" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[132]</a> The NSA was shown to be secretly accessing Yahoo and Google data centers to collect information from hundreds of millions of account holders worldwide by tapping undersea cables using the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR(surveillance_program)" title="MUSCULAR (surveillance program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MUSCULAR</a> surveillance program.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated10-109" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[109]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated11-110" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[110]</a>The NSA, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA" class="mw-redirect" title="CIA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">CIA</a> and GCHQ spied on users of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life" title="Second Life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Second Life</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live" title="Xbox Live" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Xbox Live</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft" title="World of Warcraft" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">World of Warcraft</a>, and attempted to recruit would-be informants from the sites, according to documents revealed in December 2013.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-133" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[133]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PCWorldWarCraft-134" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[134]</a> Leaked documents showed NSA agents also spied on their own "love interests," a practice NSA employees termed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOVEINT" title="LOVEINT" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">LOVEINT</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated12-135" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[135]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-136" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[136]</a> The NSA was shown to be tracking the online sexual activity of people they termed "radicalizers" in order to discredit them.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-137" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[137]</a> Following the revelation of Black Pearl, a program targeting private networks, the NSA was accused of extending beyond its primary mission of national security. The agency's intelligence-gathering operations had targeted, among others, oil giant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrobras" title="Petrobras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Petrobras</a>, Brazil's largest company.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-138" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[138]</a> The NSA and the GCHQ were also shown to be surveilling charities including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF" title="UNICEF" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">UNICEF</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9decins_du_Monde" title="Médecins du Monde" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Médecins du Monde</a>, as well as allies such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission" title="European Commission" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">European Commissioner</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Almunia" title="Joaquín Almunia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Joaquín Almunia</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Prime_Minister" class="mw-redirect" title="Israeli Prime Minister" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Israeli Prime Minister</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-139" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[139]</a>In October 2013, Glenn Greenwald said "the most shocking and significant stories are the ones we are still working on, and have yet to publish."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-140" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[140]</a> In November, The Guardian's editor-in-chief <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rusbridger" title="Alan Rusbridger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alan Rusbridger</a> said that only one percent of the documents had been published.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-141" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[141]</a> In December, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_for_Defence(Australia)" title="Minister for Defence (Australia)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Australia's Minister for Defence</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Johnston(politician)" title="David Johnston (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David Johnston</a> said his government assumed the worst was yet to come.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-142" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[142]</a>By October 2013, Snowden's disclosures had created tensions<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-143" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[143]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-144" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[144]</a> between the U.S. and some of its close allies after they revealed that the U.S. had spied on Brazil, France, Mexico,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-145" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[145]</a> Britain,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-146" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[146]</a> China,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-147" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[147]</a> Germany,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-148" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[148]</a> and Spain,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-149" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[149]</a> as well as 35 world leaders,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-150" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[150]</a> most notably German Chancellor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel" title="Angela Merkel" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Angela Merkel</a>, who said "spying among friends" was unacceptable<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-151" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[151]</a> and compared the NSA with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi" title="Stasi" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Stasi</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-152" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[152]</a> Leaked documents published by Der Spiegel in 2014 appeared to show that the NSA had targeted 122 high-ranking leaders.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-SpiegelPoitrasWorldLeaders-153" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[153]</a>An NSA mission statement titled "SIGINT Strategy 2012-2016" affirmed that the NSA had plans for continued expansion of surveillance activities. Their stated goal was to "dramatically increase mastery of the global network" and to acquire adversaries' data from "anyone, anytime, anywhere."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-154" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[154]</a> Leaked slides revealed in Greenwald's book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Place_to_Hide(Greenwald_book)" title="No Place to Hide (Greenwald book)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">No Place to Hide</a>, released in May 2014, showed that the NSA's stated objective was to "Collect it All," "Process it All," "Exploit it All," "Partner it All," "Sniff it All" and "Know it All."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPoCollecItAllKnowItAll-155" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[155]</a>Snowden said in a January 2014 interview with German television that the NSA does not limit its data collection to national security issues, accusing the agency of conducting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_espionage" title="Industrial espionage" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">industrial espionage</a>. Using the example of German company <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens" title="Siemens" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Siemens</a>, he said, "If there's information at Siemens that's beneficial to US national interests—even if it doesn't have anything to do with national security—then they'll take that information nevertheless."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ReutersIndustrialEsp-156" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[156]</a> In the wake of Snowden's revelations and in response to an inquiry from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left(Germany)" title="The Left (Germany)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Left Party</a>, Germany's domestic security agency <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Office_for_the_Protection_of_the_Constitution" title="Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV)</a> investigated and found no concrete evidence that the U.S. conducted economic or industrial espionage in Germany.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-157" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[157]</a>In February 2014, during testimony to the European Union, Snowden said of the remaining undisclosed programs, "I will leave the public interest determinations as to which of these may be safely disclosed to responsible journalists in coordination with government stakeholders."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-USNewsDisclosures-158" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[158]</a>In March 2014, documents disclosed by Glenn Greenwald writing for The Intercept showed the NSA, in cooperation with the GCHQ, has plans to infect millions of computers with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware" title="Malware" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">malware</a> using a program called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TURBINE(US_government_project)" title="TURBINE (US government project)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">TURBINE</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-InterceptMalware-159" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[159]</a> Revelations included information about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XKeyscore#Workings" title="XKeyscore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">QUANTUMHAND</a>, a program through which the NSA set up a fake <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook" title="Facebook" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Facebook</a> server to intercept connections.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-InterceptMalware-159" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[159]</a>According to a report in The Washington Post in July 2014, relying on information furnished by Snowden, 90% of those placed under surveillance in the U.S. are ordinary Americans, and are not the intended targets. The newspaper said it had examined documents including emails, message texts, and online accounts, that support the claim.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NSAusa-160" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[160]</a>In an August 2014 interview, Snowden for the first time disclosed a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare" title="Cyberwarfare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">cyberwarfare</a> program in the works, codenamed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MonsterMind" title="MonsterMind" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MonsterMind</a>, that would automate detection of a foreign <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberattack" title="Cyberattack" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">cyberattack</a> as it began and automatically fire back. "These attacks can be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoofing_attack" title="Spoofing attack" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">spoofed</a>," said Snowden. "You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia. And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BamfordWired-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Motivations</h3><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">[vid]</h3>Snowden first contemplated leaking confidential documents around 2008 but held back, partly because he believed the newly elected Barack Obama might introduce reforms.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a>After the disclosures, his identity was made public by The Guardian at his request on June 9, 2013.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-politico-journalist-spat-97" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[97]</a> "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded," he said. "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-snowdenfirstguardianvideo-161" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[161]</a>Snowden said he wanted to "embolden others to step forward" by demonstrating that "they can win."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-162" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[162]</a> He also said that the system for reporting problems did not work. "You have to report wrongdoing to those most responsible for it." He cited a lack of whistleblower protection for government contractors, the use of the 1917 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act" class="mw-redirect" title="Espionage Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Espionage Act</a> to prosecute leakers, and his belief that had he used internal mechanisms to "sound the alarm," his revelations "would have been buried forever."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Risen-90" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[90]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-163" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[163]</a>In December 2013, upon learning that a U.S. federal judge had ruled the collection of U.S. phone metadata conducted by the NSA as likely unconstitutional, Snowden said, "I acted on my belief that the NSA's mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts ... today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans' rights."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-20131217Times-164" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[164]</a>In January 2014, Snowden said his "breaking point" was "seeing the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ARDtranscript-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[50]</a> This referred to testimony on March 12, 2013—three months after Snowden first sought to share thousands of NSA documents with Greenwald,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Maass-91" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[91]</a> and nine months after the NSA says Snowden made his first illegal downloads during the summer of 2012<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a>—in which Clapper denied to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Select_Committee_on_Intelligence" title="United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence</a> that the NSA wittingly collects data on millions of Americans.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-165" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[165]</a> Snowden said, "There's no saving an intelligence community that believes it can lie to the public and the legislators who need to be able to trust it and regulate its actions. Seeing that really meant for me there was no going back. Beyond that, it was the creeping realization that no one else was going to do this. The public had a right to know about these programs."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NDRSnowdenInterview-166" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[166]</a> In March 2014, Snowden said he had reported policy or legal issues related to spying programs to more than ten officials, but as a contractor had no legal avenue to pursue further whistleblowing.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-167" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[167]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Flight from the United States</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Hong Kong</h3>In May 2013, Snowden took a leave of absence, telling his supervisors he was returning to the mainland for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy" title="Epilepsy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">epilepsy</a> treatment, but instead left Hawaii for Hong Kong<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-RollingStone-168" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[168]</a> where he arrived on May 20. Snowden told Guardian reporters in June that he had been in his room at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mira_Hong_Kong" title="The Mira Hong Kong" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mira Hotel</a> since his arrival in the city, rarely going out. On June 10, correspondent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewen_MacAskill" title="Ewen MacAskill" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ewen MacAskill</a> said Snowden had left his hotel only briefly three times since May 20.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-169" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[169]</a><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
</div><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Is_Snowden_a_Hero%3F_SnowdenHK%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E8%81%B2%E6%8F%B4%E6%96%AF%E8%AB%BE%E7%99%BB%E9%81%8A%E8%A1%8C_Hong_Kong_Rally_to_Support_Snowden_SML.20130615.7D.42298.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Is_Snowden_a_Hero%3F_SnowdenHK%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E8%81%B2%E6%8F%B4%E6%96%AF%E8%AB%BE%E7%99%BB%E9%81%8A%E8%A1%8C_Hong_Kong_Rally_to_Support_Snowden_SML.20130615.7D.42298.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Hong Kong rally to support Snowden, June 15, 2013</a></div></div></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Is_Snowden_a_Hero%3F_SnowdenHK%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E8%81%B2%E6%8F%B4%E6%96%AF%E8%AB%BE%E7%99%BB%E9%81%8A%E8%A1%8C_Hong_Kong_Rally_to_Support_Snowden_SML.20130615.7D.42298.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Snowden vowed to challenge any extradition attempt by the U.S. government, and engaged a Hong Kong-based Canadian human rights lawyer Robert Tibbo as a legal adviser.</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VanityFair-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-170" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[170]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-171" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[171]</a> Snowden told the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Morning_Post" title="South China Morning Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">South China Morning Post</a> that he planned to remain in Hong Kong for as long as its government would permit.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-southchina-interview-172" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[172]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-173" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[173]</a> Snowden also told the Post that "the United States government has committed a tremendous number of crimes against Hong Kong [and] the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PRC</a> as well,"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-174" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[174]</a> going on to identify Chinese Internet Protocol addresses that the NSA monitored and stating that the NSA collected text-message data for Hong Kong residents. Glenn Greenwald said Snowden was motivated by a need to "ingratiate himself to the people of Hong Kong and China."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-175" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[175]</a>After leaving the Mira Hotel, Snowden stayed in a cramped apartment with other refugees seeking asylum in Hong Kong, an arrangement set up by Tibbo to hide from the authorities.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-176" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[176]</a> The Russian newspaper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kommersant" title="Kommersant" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kommersant</a> nevertheless reported that Snowden was living at the Russian consulate shortly before his departure from Hong Kong to Moscow.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-177" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[177]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wizner" title="Ben Wizner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ben Wizner</a>, a lawyer with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union" title="American Civil Liberties Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Civil Liberties Union</a> (ACLU) and legal adviser to Snowden, said in January 2014, "Every news organization in the world has been trying to confirm that story. They haven't been able to, because it's false."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Mayer/New_Yorker-178" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[178]</a> Likewise rejecting the Kommersant story was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Kucherena" title="Anatoly Kucherena" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anatoly Kucherena</a>, who became Snowden's lawyer in July 2013 when Snowden asked him for help in seeking temporary asylum in Russia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-GuardianSnowdenMeetsKucherena-179" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[179]</a> Kucherena said Snowden did not communicate with Russian diplomats while he was in Hong Kong.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-180" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[180]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-tass47-181" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[181]</a> In early September 2013, however, Russian president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin" title="Vladimir Putin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vladimir Putin</a> said that, a few days before boarding a plane to Moscow, Snowden met in Hong Kong with Russian diplomatic representatives.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WSJcontact-182" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[182]</a>On June 22 (18 days after publication of Snowden's NSA documents began), officials revoked his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport" title="United States passport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. passport</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-183" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[183]</a> On June 23, Snowden boarded the commercial <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot" title="Aeroflot" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Aeroflot</a> flight SU213 to Moscow, accompanied by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Harrison(journalist)" title="Sarah Harrison (journalist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sarah Harrison</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks" title="WikiLeaks" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">WikiLeaks</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NYT:back_in_the_game-184" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[184]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-185" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[185]</a> Hong Kong authorities said that Snowden had not been detained for the U.S. because the request had not fully complied with Hong Kong law,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-186" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[186]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-187" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[187]</a> and there was no legal basis to prevent Snowden from leaving.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-hkce-1-188" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[188]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-hksj-1-189" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[189]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-192" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[Notes 1]</a> On June 24, a U.S. State Department spokesman rejected the explanation of technical noncompliance, accusing the Hong Kong government of deliberately releasing a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant and after having sufficient time to prohibit his travel.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Daily_Press_Briefing-193" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[192]</a> That same day, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" title="Julian Assange" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Julian Assange</a> said that WikiLeaks had paid for Snowden's lodging in Hong Kong and his flight out.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-194" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[193]</a>In October 2013, Snowden said that before flying to Moscow, he gave all the classified documents he had obtained to journalists he met in Hong Kong, and kept no copies for himself.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Risen-90" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[90]</a> In January 2014, he told a German TV interviewer that he gave all of his information to American journalists reporting on American issues.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ARDtranscript-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a> During his first American TV interview, in May 2014, Snowden said he had protected himself from Russian leverage by destroying the material he had been holding before landing in Moscow.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NBCNews_Motive_Revealed-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Russia</h3>
According to one Russian report, Snowden planned to fly from Moscow through Havana to Latin America; however, Cuba told Moscow it would not allow the Aeroflot plane carrying Snowden to land.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-AsiaPacificCubaWontAllowSnowdenToLand-200" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[199]</a> Russian newspaper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kommersant" title="Kommersant" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Kommersant</a> reported that Cuba had a change of heart after receiving pressure from U.S. officials,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CSMCubaSaidNoDueToPressureFromUS-201" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[200]</a> leaving him stuck in the transit zone because at the last minute Havana told officials in Moscow not to allow him on the flight.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ReutersRussianSourceCubaSaysNoGo-202" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[201]</a> The Washington Post contrasted this version with what it called "widespread speculation" that Russia never intended to let Snowden proceed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-203" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[202]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro" title="Fidel Castro" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Fidel Castro</a> called claims that Cuba would have blocked Snowden's entry a "lie" and a "libel."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Castro-197" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[196]</a> Describing Snowden's arrival in Moscow as a surprise and likening it to "an unwanted Christmas gift,"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-surprise-204" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[203]</a> Russian president Putin said that Snowden remained in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport, had committed no crime in Russia, was free to leave and should do so.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-signals-205" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[204]</a> Putin denied that Russia's intelligence agencies had worked or were working with Snowden.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-surprise-204" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[203]</a>On June 23, 2013, Snowden landed at Moscow's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheremetyevo_International_Airport" title="Sheremetyevo International Airport" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Sheremetyevo Airport</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-195" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[194]</a> WikiLeaks said he was on a circuitous but safe route to asylum in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Ecuador</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-196" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[195]</a> Snowden had a seat reserved to continue to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Cuba</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Castro-197" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[196]</a> but did not board that onward flight, saying in a January 2014 interview that he intended to transit through Russia but was stopped en route. He asserted "a planeload of reporters documented the seat I was supposed to be in" when he was ticketed for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana" title="Havana" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Havana</a>, but the U.S. cancelled his passport.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Mayer/New_Yorker-178" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[178]</a> He said the U.S. wanted him to stay in Moscow so "they could say, 'He's a Russian spy.'"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Globo-198" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[197]</a> Greenwald's account differed on the point of Snowden being already ticketed. According to Greenwald, Snowden's passport was valid when he departed Hong Kong but was revoked during the hours he was in transit to Moscow, preventing him from obtaining a ticket to leave Russia. Greenwald said Snowden was thus forced to stay in Moscow and seek asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-FrontlineUnitedStatesofSecrets-199" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[198]</a>Following Snowden's arrival in Moscow, the White House expressed disappointment in Hong Kong's decision to allow him to leave.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nytimes.com-206" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[205]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CarneyBriefJun24-207" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[206]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Daily_Press_Briefing-193" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[192]</a> An anonymous U.S. official not authorized to discuss the matter told AP Snowden's passport had been revoked before he left Hong Kong, but that a senior official in a country or airline could order subordinates to overlook the withdrawn passport.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-APSnowdensPassportRevokedBeforeLeavingHK-208" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[207]</a> U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary of State</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry" title="John Kerry" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Kerry</a> said that Snowden's passport was cancelled "within two hours" of the charges against Snowden being made public<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-KerryPassport-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> which was Friday, June 21.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-wapocharges-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> In a July 1 statement, Snowden said, "Although I am convicted of nothing, [the U.S. government] has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-209" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[208]</a>Four countries offered Snowden permanent asylum: Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-MSNBCFourOffersAsylumLatinAmerica-210" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[209]</a> No direct flights between Moscow and Venezuela, Bolivia or Nicaragua existed, however, and the U.S. pressured countries along his route to hand him over. Snowden said in July 2013 that he decided to bid for asylum in Russia because he felt there was no safe way to reach Latin America.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ABCSnowdenPromises_RussiaHeWillQuitLeaking-211" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[210]</a> Snowden said he remained in Russia because "when we were talking about possibilities for asylum in Latin America, the United States forced down the Bolivian President's plane", citing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident" title="Evo Morales grounding incident" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Morales plane incident</a>. On the issue, he said "some governments in Western European and North American states have demonstrated a willingness to act outside the law, and this behavior persists today. This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CNNSnowdenCitesMoralesPlaneIncident-212" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[211]</a> He said that he would travel from Russia if there was no interference from the U.S. government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Mayer/New_Yorker-178" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[178]</a>Four months after Snowden received asylum in Russia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" title="Julian Assange" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Julian Assange</a> commented, "While Venezuela and Ecuador could protect him in the short term, over the long term there could be a change in government. In Russia, he's safe, he's well-regarded, and that is not likely to change. That was my advice to Snowden, that he would be physically safest in Russia."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-RollingStone-168" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[168]</a> According to Snowden, "the CIA has a very powerful presence [in Latin America] and the governments and the security services there are relatively much less capable than, say, Russia.... they could have basically snatched me...."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-213" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[212]</a>In an October 2014 interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation" title="The Nation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Nation</a> magazine, Snowden reiterated that he had originally intended to travel to Latin America: "A lot of people are still unaware that I never intended to end up in Russia." According to Snowden, the U.S. government "waited until I departed Hong Kong to cancel my passport in order to trap me in Russia." Snowden added, "If they really wanted to capture me, they would've allowed me to travel to Latin America, because the CIA can operate with impunity down there. They did not want that; they chose to keep me in Russia."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nationinterview-214" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[213]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Morales plane incident</h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident" title="Evo Morales grounding incident" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Evo Morales grounding incident</a></div>
In April 2015, Bolivia's ambassador to Russia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luisa_Ramos_Urzagaste" title="María Luisa Ramos Urzagaste" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">María Luisa Ramos Urzagaste</a>, accused Julian Assange of putting Morales's life at risk by intentionally providing to the U.S. false rumors that Snowden was on Morales' plane. Assange responded that the plan "was not completely honest, but we did consider that the final result would have justified our actions. The result was caused by the United States' intervention. We can only regret what happened."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-AssangeResponsible-219" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[218]</a>On July 1, 2013, president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales" title="Evo Morales" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Evo Morales</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Bolivia</a>, who had been attending a conference in Russia, suggested during an interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_Today" class="mw-redirect" title="Russia Today" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Russia Today</a> that he would consider a request by Snowden for asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-215" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[214]</a> The following day, Morales' plane, en route to Bolivia, was rerouted to Austria and landed there, after France, Spain, and Italy denied access to their airspace. While the plane was parked in Vienna, the Spanish ambassador to Austria arrived with two embassy personnel and asked to search the plane but they were denied permission by Morales himself. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-216" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[215]</a> U.S. officials had raised suspicions that Snowden may have been on board.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-217" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[216]</a> Morales blamed the U.S. for putting pressure on European countries, and said that the grounding of his plane was a violation of international law.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-218" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[217]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Asylum applications</h4>Snowden applied for political asylum to 21 countries.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Guardian21CountriesAsylum-220" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[219]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-221" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[220]</a> A statement attributed to him contended that the U.S. administration, and specifically Vice President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Joe Biden</a>, had pressured the governments to refuse his asylum petitions. Biden had telephoned President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Correa" title="Rafael Correa" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Rafael Correa</a> days prior to Snowden's remarks, asking the Ecuadorian leader not to grant Snowden asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-222" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[221]</a> Ecuador had initially offered Snowden a temporary travel document but later withdrew it,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-223" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[222]</a> and Correa later called the offer a mistake.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-EcuadorBlunder-224" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-EcuadorBlunder-224" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">223]</a>In a July 1 statement published by WikiLeaks, Snowden accused the U.S. government of "using citizenship as a weapon" and using what he described as "old, bad tools of political aggression." Citing Obama's promise to not allow "wheeling and dealing" over the case, Snowden commented, "This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-225" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[224]</a>Several days later, WikiLeaks announced that Snowden had applied for asylum in six additional countries, but declined to name them, alleging attempted U.S. interference.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-226" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[225]</a>After evaluating the law and Snowden's situation, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_the_Interior(France)" title="Minister of the Interior (France)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">French interior ministry</a> rejected his request for asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-227" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[226]</a> Poland refused to process his application because it did not conform to legal procedure.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-20130703thenews-228" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[227]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_External_Relations(Brazil)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ministry of External Relations (Brazil)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Brazil's Foreign Ministry</a> said the government planned no response to Snowden's asylum request. Germany and India rejected Snowden's application outright, while Austria, Ecuador, Finland, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain said he must be on their territory to apply.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-asylumreq-229" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[228]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-230" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[229]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NovumAsylumNL-231" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[230]</a> In November 2014, Germany announced that Snowden had not renewed his previously denied request and was not being considered for asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-TheLocal-232" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[231]</a> Glenn Greenwald later reported that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmar_Gabriel" title="Sigmar Gabriel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sigmar Gabriel</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice-Chancellor_of_Germany" title="Vice-Chancellor of Germany" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vice-Chancellor of Germany</a>, told him the U.S. government had threatened to stop sharing intelligence if Germany offered Snowden asylum or arranged for his travel there.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-233" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[232]</a>Putin said on July 1, 2013, that if Snowden wanted to be granted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Federation_Law_on_Refugees" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian Federation Law on Refugees" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">asylum in Russia</a>, he would be required to "stop his work aimed at harming our American partners."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-234" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[233]</a> A spokesman for Putin subsequently said that Snowden had withdrawn his asylum application upon learning of the conditions.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-235" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[234]</a>In a July 12 meeting at Sheremetyevo Airport with representatives of human rights organizations and lawyers, organized in part by the Russian government,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-nytimes-236" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[235]</a> Snowden said he was accepting all offers of asylum that he had already received or would receive. He added that Venezuela's grant of asylum formalized his asylee status, removing any basis for state interference with his right to asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-20130712Telegraph-237" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[236]</a> He also said he would request asylum in Russia until he resolved his travel problems.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-usatasylum0712-238" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[237]</a> Russian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Migration_Service(Russia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Migration Service (Russia)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Federal Migration Service</a> officials confirmed on July 16 that Snowden had submitted an application for temporary asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-TempAsyl-239" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[238]</a> On July 24, Kucherena said his client wanted to find work in Russia, travel and create a life for himself, and had already begun learning Russian.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-240" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[239]</a>Amid media reports in early July 2013 attributed to U.S. administration sources that Obama's one-on-one meeting with Putin, ahead of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_G-20_Saint_Petersburg_summit" class="mw-redirect" title="2013 G-20 Saint Petersburg summit" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">G20 meeting in St Petersburg</a> scheduled for September, was in doubt due to Snowden's protracted sojourn in Russia,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-VenezuelaNYT-241" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[240]</a> top U.S. officials repeatedly made it clear to Moscow that Snowden should immediately be returned to the United States to face charges for the unauthorized leaking of classified information.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-disappointing-242" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[241]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-flap-243" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[242]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Carneybrief-244" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[243]</a> His Russian lawyer said Snowden needed asylum because he faced persecution by the U.S. government and feared "that he could be subjected to torture and capital punishment."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-245" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[244]</a>In a letter to Russian Minister of Justice <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Konovalov(politician,born_1968)" title="Aleksandr Konovalov (politician, born 1968)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Aleksandr Konovalov</a> dated July 23, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Attorney_General" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Attorney General" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Attorney General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder" title="Eric Holder" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Eric Holder</a> repudiated Snowden's claim to refugee status, and offered a limited validity passport good for direct return to the U.S.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-holderletter-246" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[245]</a> He further asserted that Snowden would not be subject to torture or the death penalty, and would receive trial in a civilian court with proper legal counsel.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NoDeathPenalty-247" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[246]</a> The same day, the Russian president's spokesman reiterated that his government would not hand over Snowden, noting that Putin was not personally involved in the matter and that it was being handled through talks between the FBI and Russia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service" title="Federal Security Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">FSB</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-248" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[247]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Criminal charges[</h2>On June 14, 2013, United States federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Snowden, charging him with theft of government property and two counts of violating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917" title="Espionage Act of 1917" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Espionage Act of 1917</a> through unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-wapocharges-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[2]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-holderletter-246" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[245]</a> Each of the three charges carries a maximum possible prison term of ten years. The charge was initially secret and was unsealed a week later.Snowden was asked in a January 2014 interview about returning to the U.S. to face the charges in court, as Obama had suggested a few days prior. Snowden explained why he rejected the request: "What he doesn't say are that the crimes that he's charged me with are crimes that don't allow me to make my case. They don't allow me to defend myself in an open court to the public and convince a jury that what I did was to their benefit. ... So it's, I would say, illustrative that the President would choose to say someone should face the music when he knows the music is a show trial."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ARDtranscript-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-249" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[248]</a> Snowden's legal representative, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesselyn_Radack" title="Jesselyn Radack" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jesselyn Radack</a>, wrote that "the Espionage Act effectively hinders a person from defending himself before a jury in an open court." She said that the "arcane World War I law" was never meant to prosecute whistleblowers, but rather spies who sold secrets to enemies for profit.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WSJRadackEspionage-250" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[249]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Asylum in Russia[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=18&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Asylum in Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden_asylum_in_Russia" title="Edward Snowden asylum in Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Edward Snowden asylum in Russia</a></div>On June 23, 2013, Snowden landed at Moscow's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheremetyevo_International_Airport" title="Sheremetyevo International Airport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sheremetyevo Airport</a> aboard a commercial <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot" title="Aeroflot" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Aeroflot</a> flight from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hong Kong</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-251" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[250]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NYT:back_in_the_game-184" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[184]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-252" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[251]</a> On August 1, after 39 days in the transit section, he left the airport and was granted temporary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_asylum" title="Right of asylum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">asylum</a> in Russia for one year.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-253" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[252]</a> A year later, his temporary asylum having expired, Snowden received a three-year residency permit allowing him to travel freely within Russia and to go abroad for up to three months. He was not granted permanent political asylum.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ResidencyNBC-254" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[253]</a> In January 2017, a spokesperson for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_foreign_ministry" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian foreign ministry" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian foreign ministry</a> wrote on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook" title="Facebook" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Facebook</a> that Snowden's asylum, which was due to expire in 2017, was extended by "a couple more years".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-255" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[254]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-256" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[255]</a> Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said the extension was valid until 2020.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-257" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[256]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Reaction[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=19&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Reaction" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_global_surveillance_disclosures" title="Reactions to global surveillance disclosures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Reactions to global surveillance disclosures</a></div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: -0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentary_on_Edward_Snowden%27s_disclosure" title="Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure</a></div><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">United States[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=20&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>A subject of controversy, Snowden has been variously called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero" title="Hero" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">hero</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-US-hero01a-258" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[257]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-US-hero02a-259" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[258]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-US-hero03a-260" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[259]</a> a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower" title="Whistleblower" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">whistleblower</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NYTWhistleblower-261" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[260]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-USwb02a-262" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[261]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-USwb03a-263" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[262]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-USwb04a-264" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[263]</a> a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissident" title="Dissident" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">dissident</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-265" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[264]</a> a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotism" title="Patriotism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">patriot</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-266" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[265]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-267" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[266]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Democracy_Now-268" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[267]</a> and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitor" class="mw-redirect" title="Traitor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">traitor</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-20130611sfchron-269" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[268]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PBS-270" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[269]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-UStraitor03a-271" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[270]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-UStraitor04a-272" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[271]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers" title="Pentagon Papers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pentagon Papers</a> leaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg" title="Daniel Ellsberg" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Daniel Ellsberg</a> called Snowden's release of NSA material the most significant leak in U.S. history.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-273" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[272]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ellsbergstasi-274" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[273]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Government officials[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=21&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Government officials" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h4>Numerous high-ranking current or former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" title="Federal government of the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. government</a> officials reacted publicly to Snowden's disclosures.<dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">2013<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Director of National Intelligence James Clapper condemned the leaks as doing "huge, grave damage" to U.S. intelligence capabilities.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-275" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[274]</a> Ex-CIA director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.James_Woolsey,Jr." class="mw-redirect" title="R. James Woolsey, Jr." style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James Woolsey</a> said that if Snowden were convicted of treason, he should be hanged.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Fox_News_Channel-276" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[275]</a></li></ul></dd><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">2014<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Intelligence_Committee" class="mw-redirect" title="House Intelligence Committee" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">House Intelligence Committee</a> chairman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Rogers(Michigan_politician)" title="Mike Rogers (Michigan politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike Rogers</a> and ranking member <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Ruppersberger" title="Dutch Ruppersberger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dutch Ruppersberger</a> said a classified Pentagon report written by military intelligence officials contended that Snowden's leaks had put U.S. troops at risk and prompted terrorists to change their tactics, and that most files copied were related to current U.S. military operations.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-277" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[276]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Barack Obama</a> said that "our nation's defense depends in part on the fidelity of those entrusted with our nation's secrets. If any individual who objects to government policy can take it into their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy." Obama also objected to the "sensational" way the leaks had been reported, saying the reporting often "shed more heat than light." He went on to assert that the disclosures had revealed "methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-278" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[277]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Former congressman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Ron Paul</a> began a petition urging the Obama Administration to grant Snowden <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemency" class="mw-redirect" title="Clemency" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">clemency</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-APPaul-279" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[278]</a> Paul released a video on his website saying, "Edward Snowden sacrificed his livelihood, citizenship, and freedom by exposing the disturbing scope of the NSA's worldwide spying program. Thanks to one man's courageous actions, Americans know about the truly egregious ways their government is spying on them."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPoPaul-280" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[279]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_McConnell" title="John Michael McConnell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike McConnell</a>—former NSA director and current vice chairman at Booz Allen Hamilton—said that Snowden was motivated by revenge when the NSA did not offer him the job he wanted. "At this point," said McConnell, "he being narcissistic and having failed at most everything he did, he decides now I'm going to turn on them."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-281" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[280]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Former president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter" title="Jimmy Carter" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jimmy Carter</a> said that if he were still president today he would "certainly consider" giving Snowden a pardon were he to be found guilty and imprisoned for his leaks.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-282" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[281]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Former secretary of state <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton" title="Hillary Clinton" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hillary Clinton</a> said, "[W]e have all these protections for whistleblowers. If [Snowden] were concerned and wanted to be part of the American debate…it struck me as…sort of odd that he would flee to China, because Hong Kong is controlled by China, and that he would then go to Russia—two countries with which we have very difficult cyberrelationships." As Clinton saw it, "turning over a lot of that material—intentionally or unintentionally—drained, gave all kinds of information, not only to big countries, but to networks and terrorist groups and the like. So I have a hard time thinking that somebody who is a champion of privacy and liberty has taken refuge in Russia, under Putin's authority."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-283" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[282]</a> Clinton later said that if Snowden wished to return to the U.S., "knowing he would be held accountable," he would have the right "to launch both a legal defense and a public defense, which can of course affect the legal defense."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ClintonJuly4-284" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[283]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary of State</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry" title="John Kerry" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Kerry</a> said Snowden had "damaged his country very significantly" and "hurt operational security" by telling terrorists how to evade detection. "The bottom line," Kerry added, "is this man has betrayed his country, sitting in Russia where he has taken refuge. You know, he should man up and come back to the United States."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ManUp-285" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[284]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">vice president</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore" title="Al Gore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Al Gore</a> said Snowden "clearly violated the law so you can't say OK, what he did is all right. It's not. But what he revealed in the course of violating important laws included violations of the U.S. constitution that were way more serious than the crimes he committed. In the course of violating important law, he also provided an important service. ... Because we did need to know how far this has gone."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-GuardianAlGore-286" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[285]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">In December, President Obama nominated former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Deputy_Secretary_of_Defense" title="United States Deputy Secretary of Defense" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">deputy defense secretary</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Carter" class="mw-redirect" title="Ashton Carter" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ashton Carter</a> to succeed outgoing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_Defense" title="United States Secretary of Defense" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary of Defense</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hagel" title="Chuck Hagel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chuck Hagel</a>. Seven months before, Carter had said, "We had a cyber Pearl Harbor. His name was Edward Snowden." Carter charged that U.S. security officials "screwed up spectacularly in the case of Snowden. And this knucklehead had access to destructive power that was much more than any individual person should have access to."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-287" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[286]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Debate</h4>In the U.S., Snowden's actions precipitated an intense debate on privacy and warrantless domestic surveillance.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-usatoday1-288" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[287]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-289" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[288]</a> President Obama was initially dismissive of Snowden, saying "I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-290" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[289]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-291" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[290]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-292" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[291]</a> In August 2013, Obama rejected the suggestion that Snowden was a patriot,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CNN081313-293" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[292]</a> and in November said that "the benefit of the debate he generated was not worth the damage done, because there was another way of doing it."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-294" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[293]</a>In June 2013, U.S. Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders" title="Bernie Sanders" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bernie Sanders</a> of Vermont wrote on his blog, "Love him or hate him, we all owe Snowden our thanks for forcing upon the nation an important debate. But the debate shouldn't be about him. It should be about the gnawing questions his actions raised from the shadows."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-295" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[294]</a>Snowden said in December 2013 that he was "inspired by the global debate" ignited by the leaks and that NSA's "culture of indiscriminate global espionage ... is collapsing."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated8-296" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[295]</a>At the end of 2013, however, The Washington Post noted that the public debate and its offshoots had produced no meaningful change in policy, with the status quo continuing.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-autogenerated12-135" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[135]</a>In 2016, on The Axe Files <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_podcast" title="Political podcast" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">podcast</a>, former U.S. Attorney General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder" title="Eric Holder" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Eric Holder</a> said that Snowden "performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made." Holder nevertheless said that Snowden's actions were inappropriate and illegal.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-297" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[296]</a>In September 2016, the bipartisan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.House_Permanent_Select_Committee_on_Intelligence" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence</a> completed a review of the Snowden disclosures and said that the federal government would have to spend millions of dollars responding to the fallout from Snowden's disclosures.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-HouseReport-298" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[297]</a> The report also said that "the public narrative popularized by Snowden and his allies is rife with falsehoods, exaggerations, and crucial omissions."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-299" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[298]</a> The report was denounced by Washington Post reporter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_Gellman" title="Barton Gellman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Barton Gellman</a>, who called it "aggressively dishonest" and "contemptuous of fact."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-300" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[299]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Presidential panel</h4>In August 2013, President Obama said that he had called for a review of U.S. surveillance activities before Snowden had begun revealing details of the NSA's operations,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CNN081313-293" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[292]</a> and announced that he was directing DNI James Clapper "to establish a review group on intelligence and communications technologies."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-301" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[300]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-302" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[301]</a> In December, the task force issued 46 recommendations that, if adopted, would subject the NSA to additional scrutiny by the courts, Congress, and the president, and would strip the NSA of the authority to infiltrate American computer systems using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backdoor(computing)" title="Backdoor (computing)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">backdoors</a> in hardware or software.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-reviewpanel-303" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[302]</a> Panel member <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_R.Stone" title="Geoffrey R. Stone" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Geoffrey R. Stone</a> said there was no evidence that the bulk collection of phone data had stopped any <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_attacks" class="mw-redirect" title="Terror attacks" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">terror attacks</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-304" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[303]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Court rulings[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=24&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Court rulings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h4>On June 6, 2013, in the wake of Snowden's leaks, conservative public interest lawyer and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Watch" title="Judicial Watch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Judicial Watch</a> founder <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Klayman" title="Larry Klayman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Larry Klayman</a> filed a lawsuit claiming that the federal government had unlawfully collected metadata for his telephone calls and was harassing him. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klayman_v.Obama" title="Klayman v. Obama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Klayman v. Obama</a>, Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J.Leon" title="Richard J. Leon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Richard J. Leon</a> referred to the NSA's "almost-Orwellian technology" and ruled the bulk telephony metadata program to be probably unconstitutional.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-WaPoUnconstitutional-305" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[304]</a> Snowden later described Judge Leon's decision as vindication.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PoliticoPulizer-306" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[305]</a>On June 11, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, alleging that the NSA's phone records program was unconstitutional. In December 2013, ten days after Judge Leon's ruling, Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H.Pauley_III" title="William H. Pauley III" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William H. Pauley III</a> came to the opposite conclusion. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACLU_v.Clapper" title="ACLU v. Clapper" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ACLU v. Clapper</a>, although acknowledging that privacy concerns are not trivial, Pauley found that the potential benefits of surveillance outweigh these considerations and ruled that the NSA's collection of phone data is legal.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NYTBulkLegal-307" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[306]</a>Gary Schmitt, former staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote that "The two decisions have generated public confusion over the constitutionality of the NSA's data collection program—a kind of judicial 'he-said, she-said' standoff."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-308" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[307]</a>On May 7, 2015, in the case of ACLU v. Clapper, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Second_Circuit" title="United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit</a> said that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_215" class="mw-redirect" title="Section 215" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Section 215</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act" title="Patriot Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Patriot Act</a> did not authorize the NSA to collect Americans' calling records in bulk, as exposed by Snowden in 2013. The decision voided U.S. District Judge William Pauley's December 2013 finding that the NSA program was lawful, and remanded the case to him for further review. The appeals court did not rule on the constitutionality of the bulk surveillance, and declined to enjoin the program, noting the pending expiration of relevant parts of the Patriot Act. Circuit Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_E.Lynch" title="Gerard E. Lynch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gerard E. Lynch</a> wrote that, given the national security interests at stake, it was prudent to give Congress an opportunity to debate and decide the matter.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-309" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[308]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">USA Freedom Act[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=25&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: USA Freedom Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h4>On June 2, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed, and President Obama signed, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act" title="USA Freedom Act" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">USA Freedom Act</a> which restored in modified form several provisions of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act" title="Patriot Act" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Patriot Act</a> that had expired the day before, while for the first time imposing some limits on the bulk collection of telecommunication data on U.S. citizens by American intelligence agencies. The new restrictions were widely seen as stemming from Snowden's revelations.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-CNN_passes-310" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[309]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-311" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[310]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Europe[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=26&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Europe" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Georg_Maa%C3%9Fen" title="Hans-Georg Maaßen" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hans-Georg Maaßen</a>, head of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Office_for_the_Protection_of_the_Constitution" title="Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution</a>, Germany's domestic security agency, said that Snowden could have been working for the Russian government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-312" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[311]</a> Snowden has rejected this insinuation.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-313" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[312]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">International community[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=27&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: International community" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="text-align: left; min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); overflow: hidden; width: 232px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DigiGes_PRISM_Yes_we_scan-Demo_am_Checkpoint_Charlie_June_2013.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DigiGes_PRISM_Yes_we_scan-Demo_am_Checkpoint_Charlie_June_2013.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Demonstration at </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkpoint_Charlie" title="Checkpoint Charlie" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Checkpoint Charlie</a> in Berlin during Barack Obama's visit, June 18, 2013</div></div></div>Crediting the Snowden leaks, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly" title="United Nations General Assembly" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United Nations General Assembly</a> unanimously adopted Resolution 68/167 in December 2013. The non-binding resolution denounced unwarranted digital surveillance and included a symbolic declaration of the right of all individuals to online privacy.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-314" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[313]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-315" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[314]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-316" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[315]</a>Support for Snowden came from Latin American leaders including the Argentinian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Kirchner" title="Cristina Fernández de Kirchner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cristina Fernández de Kirchner</a>, Brazilian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilma_Rousseff" title="Dilma Rousseff" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dilma Rousseff</a>, Ecuadorian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Correa" title="Rafael Correa" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rafael Correa</a>, Bolivian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales" title="Evo Morales" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Evo Morales</a>, Venezuelan President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro" title="Nicolás Maduro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nicolás Maduro</a>, and Nicaraguan President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ortega" title="Daniel Ortega" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Daniel Ortega</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-317" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[316]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-318" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[317]</a>In an official report published in October 2015, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_special_rapporteur" title="United Nations special rapporteur" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United Nations special rapporteur</a> for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of speech, Professor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kaye(law_professor)" title="David Kaye (law professor)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David Kaye</a>, criticized the U.S. government's harsh treatment of, and bringing criminal charges against, whistleblowers, including Edward Snowden. The report found that Snowden's revelations were important for people everywhere and made "a deep and lasting impact on law, policy and politics."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-319" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[318]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-320" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[319]</a> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament" title="European Parliament" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">European Parliament</a> invited Snowden to make a pre-recorded video appearance to aid their NSA investigation.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-321" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[320]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-322" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[321]</a> Snowden gave written testimony in which he said that he was seeking asylum in the EU, but that he was told by European Parliamentarians that the U.S. would not allow EU partners to make such an offer.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NPREUasyl-323" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[322]</a> He told the Parliament that the NSA was working with the security agencies of EU states to "get access to as much data of EU citizens as possible."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PCworldEU-324" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[323]</a> The NSA's Foreign Affairs Division, he claimed, lobbies the EU and other countries to change their laws, allowing for "everyone in the country" to be spied on legally.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-BoingBoingEU-325" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[324]</a>In July 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navi_Pillay" title="Navi Pillay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Navi Pillay</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">UN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Commissioner_for_Human_Rights" class="mw-redirect" title="High Commissioner for Human Rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">High Commissioner for Human Rights</a>, told a news conference in Geneva that the U.S. should abandon its efforts to prosecute Snowden, since his leaks were in the public interest.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NaviPillay-326" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[325]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Public opinion polls[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=28&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Public opinion polls" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentary_on_Edward_Snowden%27s_disclosure" title="Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure</a></div>Surveys conducted by news outlets and professional polling organizations found that American public opinion was divided on Snowden's disclosures, and that those polled in Canada and Europe were more supportive of Snowden than respondents in the U.S. although more Americans have grown more supportive of Snowden's disclosure.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Recognition[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=29&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Recognition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_received_by_Edward_Snowden" title="Awards received by Edward Snowden" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Awards received by Edward Snowden</a></div>For his global surveillance disclosures, Snowden has been honored by publications and organizations based in Europe and the United States. He was voted as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Guardian</a>'s person of the year 2013, garnering four times the number of votes as any other candidate.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-327" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[326]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Teleconference speaking engagements[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=30&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Teleconference speaking engagements" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
</div><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Snowden%27s_Surprise_Appearance_at_TED.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Snowden%27s_Surprise_Appearance_at_TED.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Speaking via telepresence robot, Snowden addresses the TED conference from Russia.</a></div></div></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Snowden%27s_Surprise_Appearance_at_TED.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">In March 2014, Snowden spoke at the </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_by_Southwest" title="South by Southwest" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">South by Southwest</a> (SXSW) Interactive technology conference in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,Texas" title="Austin, Texas" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Austin, Texas</a>, in front of 3,500 attendees. He participated by teleconference carried over multiple routers running the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Hangouts" title="Google Hangouts" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Google Hangouts</a> platform. On-stage moderators were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Soghoian" title="Christopher Soghoian" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Christopher Soghoian</a> and Snowden's legal counsel Wizner, both from the ACLU.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-328" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[327]</a> Snowden said that the NSA was "setting fire to the future of the internet," and that the SXSW audience was "the firefighters."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-DeLuca2014-329" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[328]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-330" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[329]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-331" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[330]</a> Attendees could use Twitter to send questions to Snowden, who answered one by saying that information gathered by corporations was much less dangerous than that gathered by a government agency, because "governments have the power to deprive you of your rights."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-DeLuca2014-329" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[328]</a> Representative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pompeo" title="Mike Pompeo" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Mike Pompeo</a> (R-KS) of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Permanent_Select_Committee_on_Intelligence" title="United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">House Intelligence Committee</a>, and later <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_the_Central_Intelligence_Agency" title="Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">director of the CIA</a>, had tried unsuccessfully to get the SXSW management to cancel Snowden's appearance; instead, SXSW director Hugh Forrest said that the NSA was welcome to respond to Snowden at the 2015 conference.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-DeLuca2014-329" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[328]</a>Later that month, Snowden appeared by teleconference at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED(conference)" title="TED (conference)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">TED</a> conference in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver" title="Vancouver" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vancouver</a>, British Columbia. Represented on stage by a robot with a video screen, video camera, microphones and speakers, Snowden conversed with TED curator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Anderson(entrepreneur)" title="Chris Anderson (entrepreneur)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chris Anderson</a>, and told the attendees that online businesses should act quickly to encrypt their websites. He described the NSA's PRISM program as the U.S. government using businesses to collect data for them, and that the NSA "intentionally misleads corporate partners" using, as an example, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullrun(decryption_program)" title="Bullrun (decryption program)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bullrun decryption program</a> to create backdoor access.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Rowan2014-332" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[331]</a> Snowden said he would gladly return to the U.S. if given <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunity_from_prosecution(international_law)" title="Immunity from prosecution (international law)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">immunity from prosecution</a>, but that he was more concerned about alerting the public about abuses of government authority.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Rowan2014-332" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[331]</a> Anderson invited Internet pioneer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee" title="Tim Berners-Lee" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tim Berners-Lee</a> on stage to converse with Snowden, who said that he would support Berners-Lee's concept of an "internet Magna Carta" to "encode our values in the structure of the internet."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-Rowan2014-332" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[331]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-333" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[332]</a>On September 15, 2014, Snowden appeared via remote video link, along with Julian Assange, on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom" title="Kim Dotcom" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kim Dotcom's</a> Moment of Truth town hall meeting held in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland" title="Auckland" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Auckland</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-334" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[333]</a> He made a similar video link appearance on February 2, 2015, along with Greenwald, as the keynote speaker at the World Affairs Conference at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada_College" title="Upper Canada College" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Upper Canada College</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto" title="Toronto" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Toronto</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-335" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[334]</a>In March 2015, while speaking at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Film_Festival_and_Forum_on_Human_Rights" title="International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">FIFDH</a> (international human rights film festival) he made a public appeal for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Switzerland</a> to grant him asylum, saying he would like to return to live in Geneva, where he once worked undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-336" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[335]</a>On November 10, 2015, Snowden appeared at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newseum" title="Newseum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Newseum</a>, via remote video link, for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN_American_Center" title="PEN American Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PEN American Center's</a> "Secret Sources: Whistleblowers, National Security and Free Expression," event.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-337" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[336]</a>In 2015, Snowden earned over $200,000 from digital speaking engagements in the U.S.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-338" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[337]</a>On March 19, 2016, Snowden delivered the opening keynote address of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibrePlanet" title="LibrePlanet" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">LibrePlanet</a> conference, a meeting of international <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software" title="Free software" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">free software</a> activists and developers presented by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation" title="Free Software Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Free Software Foundation</a>. The conference was held at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> and was the first such time Snowden spoke via teleconference using a full free software stack, end-to-end.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Technical_language" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">jargon</a>]<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-339" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[338]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-340" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[339]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-341" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[340]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-342" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[341]</a>On July 21, 2016, Snowden and hardware hacker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnie_Huang" class="mw-redirect" title="Bunnie Huang" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bunnie Huang</a>, in a talk at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Media_Lab" title="MIT Media Lab" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MIT Media Lab</a>'s Forbidden Research event, published research for a smartphone case, the so-called Introspection Engine, that would monitor signals received and sent by that phone to provide an alert to the user if his or her phone is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellphone_surveillance" title="Cellphone surveillance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">transmitting or receiving information when it shouldn't be</a> (for example when it's turned off or in airplane mode), a feature described by Snowden to be useful for journalists or activists operating under hostile governments that would otherwise track their activities through their phones.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-343" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[342]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-344" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[343]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-345" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[344]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-346" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[345]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-347" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[346]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">The "Snowden Effect"</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowden_effect" title="Snowden effect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Snowden effect</a></div>In July 2013, media critic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Rosen" title="Jay Rosen" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Jay Rosen</a> defined The Snowden Effect as "Direct and indirect gains in public knowledge from the cascade of events and further reporting that followed Edward Snowden's leaks of classified information about the surveillance state in the U.S."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-RosenSnowdenEffect-348" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[347]</a> In December 2013, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation" title="The Nation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The Nation</a> wrote that Snowden had sparked an overdue debate about national security and individual privacy.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-NationSnowdenEffect-349" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[348]</a> In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes" title="Forbes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Forbes</a>, the effect was seen to have nearly united the U.S. Congress in opposition to the massive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-9/11" title="Post-9/11" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">post-9/11</a> domestic intelligence gathering system.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-350" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[349]</a> In its Spring 2014 Global Attitudes Survey, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Research_Center" title="Pew Research Center" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Pew Research Center</a> found that Snowden's disclosures had tarnished the image of the United States, especially in Europe and Latin America.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-PewJuly2014-351" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[350]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Jewel v. NSA[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=32&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Jewel v. NSA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>On November 2, 2018, Snowden provided a court <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration(law)" title="Declaration (law)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">declaration</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_v.NSA" title="Jewel v. NSA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jewel v. National Security Agency</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-352" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[351]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-353" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[352]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-354" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[353]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">In popular culture[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=33&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: In popular culture" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden_in_popular_culture" title="Edward Snowden in popular culture" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Edward Snowden in popular culture</a></div>Snowden's impact as a public figure has been felt in cinema,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-355" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[354]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-356" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[355]</a> advertising,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-357" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[356]</a> video games,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-358" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[357]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-359" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[358]</a> literature,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-360" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[359]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-361" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[360]</a> music,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-362" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[361]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-363" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[362]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-364" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[363]</a> statuary,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-365" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[364]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-366" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[365]</a> and social media.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-ArsTwitterNSA-367" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[366]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#cite_note-SCMTwitter-368" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[367]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">See also[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&action=edit&section=34&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: See also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="navigation" aria-label="Portals" class="noprint portal plainlist tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.1em; list-style: none none; line-height: 13.09px; display: table; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 175px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0px; display: table-row;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/28px-P_vip.svg.png" decoding="async" width="28" height="28" class="noviewer" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/41px-P_vip.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/69/P_vip.svg/55px-P_vip.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1911" data-file-height="1944" style="border: 0px; 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background: none;">Criticism of the United States government</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON" title="ECHELON" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ECHELON</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Crane(government_official)" title="John Crane (government official)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Crane</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Parliamentary_Committee_investigating_the_NSA_spying_scandal" class="mw-redirect" title="German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong%E2%80%93United_States_relations" title="Hong Kong–United States relations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hong Kong–United States relations</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_sensitivity" title="Information sensitivity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Information sensitivity</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_asylum" title="List of people granted asylum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">List of people granted asylum</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_lived_at_airports" title="List of people who have lived at airports" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">List of people who have lived at airports</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_extradition_treaties" title="List of United States extradition treaties" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">List of United States extradition treaties</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whistleblowers" title="List of whistleblowers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">List of whistleblowers</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States" title="Mass surveillance in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mass surveillance in the United States</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance(2001%E2%80%9307)" class="mw-redirect" title="NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–07)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–07)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;">NSA whistleblowers<ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Binney(U.S.intelligence_official)" class="mw-redirect" title="William Binney (U.S. intelligence official)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Binney</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews_Drake" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas Andrews Drake" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Thomas Andrews Drake</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Fellwock" title="Perry Fellwock" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Perry Fellwock</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Klein" title="Mark Klein" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Klein</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Tamm" title="Thomas Tamm" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Thomas Tamm</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Roark" title="Diane Roark" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Diane Roark</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Tice" title="Russ Tice" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russ Tice</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Socialist" title="Operation Socialist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Operation Socialist</a> (code name)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panetta_Review" title="Panetta Review" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Panetta Review</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_influence_operations_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian influence operations in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian influence operations in the United States</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_Wind(code_name)" class="mw-redirect" title="Stellar Wind (code name)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Stellar Wind (code name)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_Surveillance_Program" title="Terrorist Surveillance Program" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Terrorist Surveillance Program</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haven(software)" title="Haven (software)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Haven (software)</a> – Free and open-source Android app co-developed by Snowden and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian_Project_(software)" title="The Guardian Project (software)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Guardian Project</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Notes</h2><div>....</div>=<div class="overview">

<time>October 21, 2015</time>

<h1>BookTV Discussion on Snowden</h1>

Ted Rall talked about his book, Snowden, about National Security

Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden and the documents that

Mr. Snowden made public. During this event, Mr. Rall was joined by Chris

Hedges.

</div><a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?402168-1/book-discussion-snowden">http://www.c-span.org/video/?402168-1/book-discussion-snowden</a>
===

===

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/12/snowden-surveillance-subverting-constitution">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/12/snowden-surveillance-subverting-constitution</a>

What <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/edward-snowden" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Edward Snowden">Edward Snowden</a> has done is an amazingly brave and courageous act of civil disobedience.

Like me, he became discomforted by what he was exposed to and what he saw: the industrial-scale systematic <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/surveillance" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Surveillance">surveillance</a> that is scooping up vast amounts of information not only around the world but in the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa" title="More from guardian.co.uk on United States">United States</a>, in direct violation of the fourth amendment of the US constitution.

The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nsa" title="More from guardian.co.uk on NSA">NSA</a> programs that Snowden has revealed are nothing new: they date back to the days and weeks after 9/11. I had direct exposure to similar programs, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_Wind_%28code_name%29">Stellar Wind</a>, in 2001. In the first week of October, I had an extraordinary conversation with NSA's lead attorney. When I pressed hard about the unconstitutionality of Stellar Wind, he said:

"The White House has approved the program; it's all legal. NSA is the executive agent."

</blockquote>

It was made clear to me that the original intent of government was to gain access to all the information it could without regard for constitutional safeguards. "You don't understand," I was told. "We just need the data."

In the first week of October 2001, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?scp=1&sq=James%20Risen%20nsa%20surveillance&st=cse&_r=0">President Bush had signed an extraordinary order authorizing blanket dragnet electronic surveillance</a>: Stellar Wind was a highly secret program that, without warrant or any approval from the Fisa court, gave the NSA access to all phone records from the major telephone companies, including US-to-US calls. It correlates precisely with the Verizon order revealed by Snowden; and based on what we know, you have to assume that there are standing orders for the other major telephone companies.

===

<div class="byline rights"><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/">Global Post</a> [1] / By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/angus-west">Angus West</a> [2]</div>

<h1 class="node-title">11 Shocking Things Snowden Has Taught Us (So Far)</h1>

</div>

This article originally appeared on <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/">GlobalPost</a> [1].

[1]1) Can you hear me now?

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order">The Guardian</a> [3] reported on June 6 that, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the Obama administration enabled the National Security Agency to collect caller information from Verizon through a “business records” provision of the Patriot Act, established under President George W. Bush. The government ordered Verizon to hand over call information on a daily basis, including the time, location and duration of calls. The Bush administration began collecting such information in October 2001 from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, which USA Today reported in 2006.

The consequence:

While US officials sought to reassure the public that such surveillance was legal and part of an ongoing program vital to national security, many Americans called the domestic spying an unnecessary invasion of privacy and lamented that it was even legal in the first place. A national debate quickly erupted.

2) Yes we scan

Snowden also leaked a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/08/nsa-boundless-informant-data-mining-slides">secret 41-slide PowerPoint presentation</a> [4] apparently used to train US intelligence personnel. The slides detail the NSA’s involvement in a then-clandestine program called PRISM.

PRISM is the NSA effort to collect massive amounts of data from internet companies such as email content, search histories and file transfers tied to potential terrorism or espionage suspects. The PowerPoint presentation confirmed that the NSA is able to directly access the servers of “major US service providers,” describing collaboration with tech companies like YouTube, Skype, Google and Apple. Google, Apple, and others in the tech industry, however, denied awareness of the program.

PRISM began in 2007 with Microsoft and expanded to include Apple in 2012. To be subject toPRISM surveillance, there need only be “reasonable suspicion” that one of the suspects is outside the United States. Unlike the Verizon court-ordered collaboration, the government can access live information, photos, video chats and data from social networks directly through the companies’ servers without required consent or individual court orders. One slide puts the cost of the program at $20 million per year.

The consequence:

Domestically, PRISM was criticized for its ability to collect data on US citizens unintentionally. Also, the revelations coincided with a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama, adding tension to an already heated dialogue over cyber-espionage between the two countries. The summit in California was focused on US accusations of Chinese cyberattacks; but the US had little credibility in the wake of the Snowden leaks. China was adamant that it too was the victim of US attacks. EU countries were also brought into the mix, and European citizens now worry they have been spied upon through the PRISM program.

3) Boundless Informant

Boundless Informant is a tool that allows the NSA to compile and track the “metadata” it collects around the world. In the month of March alone, nearly 3 billion pieces of information were collected from US networks and 97 billion pieces worldwide,<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/08/nsa-boundless-informant-global-datamining"> the Guardian</a> [5] reported on June 8.

A “global heat map” sorts the intelligence sources by country, type, and volume, allowing quick analysis of which countries are most targeted, as well as when the information was gathered. The program is reviewed periodically, according to the documents, with operators able to make recommendations for future improvement.

The consequence:

Boundless Informant proved that despite assurances to Congress to the contrary, the NSA does keep track of the surveillance it performs on US citizens. James Clapper, director of national intelligence, defended the government’s use of the PRISM program and condemned “reckless disclosures” of its details by media. It was the first time Clapper named the program publicly. The intelligence director now faces criticism that he misled Congress when he earlier said the NSA did not have the tools to assess the extent of information gathered on US citizens. Clapper remains adamant that any information gathered on US citizens is “unwitting,” rather than the result of targeted surveillance.

4) The United States is hacking China

Snowden, speaking with <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1259422/edward-snowden-let-hong-kong-people-decide-my-fate">The South China Morning Post</a> [6], gave his first press interview with an outlet other than the Guardian after revealing himself as the source of the leaks on June 12. He said he would stay in Hong Kong until he is “asked to leave,” and said that he took up his previous role as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton with the intent of disseminating state secrets. (Snowden would later fly to Moscow and initiate asylum applications with more than 20 countries, many of them denied.) Snowden also told the South China Morning Post that the NSA has been hacking mainland Chinese and Hong Kong computers since 2009. He claimed the NSA hacked networks at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, home to the Hong Kong Internet Exchange and Hong Kong’s main terminal for all internet traffic.

The consequence:

Snowden’s statements hardened the standoff between China and the United States over hacking. Hong Kong Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok announced that the Hong Kong Internet Exchange has been monitored but appears unaffected, while Chinese University announced that it has not found evidence of hacking on its servers.

The domestic debate in the United States began to reach a fever pitch. A Gallup Poll conducted between June 10 and June 11 placed support among Americans for Snowden’s actions at 44 percent, while 42 percent said his actions were wrong. Still, the poll found that 57 percent of respondents did not support the NSA’s surveillance programs as outlined in the leaked documents, while 37 percent approved.

5) Britain targets G20 members

Another PowerPoint presentation leaked on June 16 outlines how the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Britain’s equivalent to the NSA, used real-time surveying of delegates’ phone communications at the G20 Summit in 2009. The intent of the surveillance was to gain diplomatic advantage at the meetings, which came in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. British officials could obtain real-time readings of calls made by targeted persons and read their emails without notice.

There is specific mention in the slides of targeting “the Turkish finance minister and possibly 15 others in his party,” <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/16/gchq-intercepted-communications-g20-summits">according to the Guardian</a> [7]. The slides suggest “senior level” members of government in Gordon Brown’s administration, Britain’s prime minister at the time, were aware of the intelligence gathering and that the information “was passed to British ministers.” The presentation also alludes to such covert techniques being neither unprecedented nor unique.

The consequence:

The revelations incited ire from Russia, Turkey and South Africa, all of which had diplomats directly targeted at various times during the summit. While there is consensus that many countries engage in similar acts of espionage, the publicity was nonetheless damaging to the UK government’s reputation. The news added to mounting concern in the international community about links between UK’s GCHQ and the NSA’s PRISM program.

6) NSA procedures

On June 20, the Guardian revealed two more documents obtained by Snowden (viewable <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/20/exhibit-a-procedures-nsa-document">here</a> [8]and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/20/exhibit-b-nsa-procedures-document">here</a> [9]). Signed by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009, the documents shed light on procedures sanctioned by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. According to the documents, the NSA can keep (and make use of) information inadvertently gathered on US citizens for a period of up to five years — without a warrant — but only if the information is deemed to be relevant in preventing national security threats or to aid further investigations. The information can be sent to allied governments or foreign organizations, so long as the person’s identity is anonymous.

The consequence:

While the documents outline the circumstances the NSA must destroy data collected from US citizens, as well as the rigorous steps analysts are supposed to take to make sure a target is outside the United States, they also reveal several ways the NSA can continue to use data collected on US citizens. The revelations appear to contradict statements by Obama and others that the NSA cannot access data on US citizens without a warrant.

Patrick McFarland, inspector general for the US Office of Personnel Management, meanwhile, announced an ongoing probe into whether a proper background check was conducted before Snowden was given a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information-level clearance.

The investigation focused on the operations of US Investigations Services (USIS), a Virginia-based information and security company employed by the government to conduct background checks. US government officials came under fire during a Senate subcommittee hearing investigating why the NSA hired Snowden despite discrepancies on his resume. Booz Allen Hamilton noted potential issues but failed to act and USIS, which screened Snowden for his government security clearance before his work with Booz Allen Hamilton, was similarly unsuccessful in acting on any suspicous elements.

7) Friends who hack together stay together

The Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa">revealed slides</a> [10] on June 21 created by the UK’s GCHQ with titles like “Mastering the Internet” and “Global Telecoms Exploitation.” The slides outline Tempora, an 18-month-old program the GCHQ uses to store metadata for up to 30 days and content data for up to three days, allowing the agency to sift through reams of information legally.

The documents show the extent to which the GCHQ has been able to tap 200 fiber-optic cables laid beneath the Atlantic Ocean, potentially accessing over “21 petabytes of communications data a day.”

The slides indicate that private companies are required to give GCHQ discreet access to tap the cables. The United Kingdom shared that information with the NSA beginning in 2011, giving the US spy agency unlimited access to GCHQ data. The slides show that “850,000 NSA employees and US private contractors with top secret clearance had access to GCHQ databases.”

The consequence:

Officials and private citizens raised concerns on both sides of the Atlantic that there is insufficient oversight and limited restrictions on the UK’s fiber-optic surveillance system. The close-knit relationship between the US and UK intelligence agencies, as well as the NSA’s unfiltered access to Britain’s world-leading cyber-surveillance stores, came under heightened scrutiny. Some diplomats worried that the revelations could negatively impact EU-US trade discussions, and that China-US cybersecurity talks, already on a tentative footing, could suffer as well.

8) NSA targets China’s largest research hub and major telecommunications provider

Speaking to <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1266892/exclusive-nsa-targeted-chinas-tsinghua-university-extensive-hacking">The South China Morning Post</a> [11], Snowden said on June 23 that the NSA has hacked into computer networks at Tsinghua University an unknown number of times. Snowden said on a single day in January 63 computers and servers were hacked. Snowden argued that the internal and external IP addresses he disclosed could only come from hacking or physical access to the computers.

The facility at Tsinghua University is one of six backbone networks that comprise the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), through which internet data for millions of Chinese can be accessed. The system was the first of its kind and is now the largest national research hub in the world. It is owned by the Ministry of Education and maintained by the university and other colleges.

<a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1266875/exclusive-us-hacked-pacnet-asia-pacific-fibre-optic-network-operator">The South China Morning Post</a> [12] also published the allegation from Snowden that US agents hacked the Hong Kong headquarters of Pacnet, a privately-owned company that provides the majority of fiber-optic cables in the Asia Pacific and has stations across the region. Most Pacnet cables bring internet connections to and from the United States, where some of the world’s largest cloud computing and internet search engines are based.

The consequence:

Following Snowden’s latest revelations, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs created a new office for handling “diplomatic activities involving cyber security.” Chinese diplomats said China has been the victim of US hacking many times before, and that the issue would be discussed as part of a US-China “strategic and security dialogue.” Despite concerns that the issue could derail any progress diffusing tension over cybersecurity issues, talks between the two countries were set to continue.

9) Fail-safe switch

<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/25/greenwald-snowden-s-files-are-out-there-if-anything-happens-to-him.html">Glenn Greenwald</a> [13], the Guardian journalist who received Snowden’s first leak, told The Daily Beast that the rest of Snowden’s files have been disseminated around the world. If something unforeseen befalls Snowden, Greenwald reported, more information will inevitably be leaked.

Greenwald said that though the still-secret documents are encrypted, Snowden has made arrangements for the passwords to reach those with the files if he is unable to access them himself.

Greenwald also said Snowden gave him many more documents than those so far released and believes Snowden has even more on top of that. The documents are said to be stored on four laptops in Snowden’s possession. Greenwald said he does not wish to publish any details of the NSA’s surveillance systems that could foster or enable security breaches, nor does Snowden.

The consequence:

The fact that Snowden made multiple copies of the classified intelligence he carries created renewed angst among US officials. New questions were raised as to whether the US intelligence community can adequately stem the current leak and prevent future breaches from occurring.

10) NSA surveils Europe

German news magazine <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/nsa-spied-on-european-union-offices-a-908590.html">Der Spiegel</a> [14] revealed on June 29 it had seen part of a 2010 document, obtained by Snowden, showing that the NSA spied on European citizens and EU officials.

The document reportedly specifies Europeans as a “location target,” with Germans singled out as a major focus of US eavesdropping. The document also mentions telecommunications hacking — first reported by EU officials five years ago — of the EU Council of Ministers and the European Council at the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels. Calls from an NSA-occupied building at the NATO headquarters outside of Brussells, according to the document, were traced to the Lipsius Building.

The consequence:

Europeans erupted in anger over the new allegations. German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said: “If the media reports are accurate, then this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War.”

Grievences with the US surveillance program were particularly evident in Germany where, after a frank conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Obama during his visit to Berlin earlier in the month, cybersecurity was a hot topic.

11) Dozens of embassies hacked

On July 1, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/nsa-leaks-us-bugging-european-allies">The Guardian</a> [15] revealed a 2007 document that named 38 embassies and missions that were “targets” of US surveillance, including the EU embassy in Washington and its mission in New York.

It was unclear, according to The Guardian, whether those on the list were targets of the NSA only, or if agencies like the CIA and FBI were also watching them. The document described bugging fax machines with listening devices and listed the names of programs like “Wabash,” an operation directed at the French embassy in Washington.

The list of countries targeted was not limited to EU members or the traditional enemies of the United States, but instead includes the likes of India and Mexico, as well as Greece and Turkey. Gaining insider knowledge of diplomatic relations between the targeted states and the United States was the primary goal of the targeted surveillance, The Guardian reported.

The consequence:

The intelligence leak may have jeopardized the largest attempted free trade agreement in the world, with negotiations between the EU and United States set to begin on July 8 in Washington, DC on a new free trade pact. French President Francois Hollande made public his anger over the covert operations, saying that any future negotiations will be contingent on the United States ceasing all unauthorized surveillance of EU buildings and personnel. US officials have tried to smooth over the dispute, but the success of the trade agreement may still hang in the balance.

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<div class="tags">See more stories tagged with:

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/ed-snowden">ed snowden</a> [16]</div>

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<div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/11-disturbing-things-snowden-has-taught-us-so-far">http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/11-disturbing-things-snowden-has-taught-us-so-far</a></div>

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