Snowden Denies Working as Foreign Spy, New Yorker Reports

Edward Snowden, the former security contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. spying programs, said he worked alone in taking classified documents and denied American lawmakers claims that he was an agent for a foreign government.

Accusations that Snowden was working for Russia or another country when he took thousands of classified documents on U.S. spying programs are clearly false and wont stick, Snowden said in an interview with the New Yorker published on its website. The magazine said the interview was conducted via encrypted means, without elaborating.

The American people are smarter than politicians think they are, said Snowden, emphasizing that he clearly and unambiguously acted alone, with no assistance from anyone, much less a government.

Snowden, whos in Russia under temporary asylum, leaked classified documents last year on National Security Agency surveillance programs, unleashing an international uproar about privacy and the reach of government in the post-Sept. 11 world.

Anatoly Kucherena, Snowdens Russian lawyer whos also a member of the Federal Security Services public council, reiterated his clients comments today and earlier denials that hed acted for a foreign power.

After months of debate instigated by the leaks, President Barack Obama responded Jan. 17 by endorsing action to assure American citizens and allies that their privacy is protected while committing to few specifics.

The U.S. has accused Snowden of theft and espionage for providing the documents to the U.K.s Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post last year that unveiled the breadth of the NSAs collection of Internet and telephone records.

Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and the House Intelligence Committee chairman, in an interview Jan. 19 on NBCs Meet the Press, described the 30-year-old American as a thief who had possible Russian assistance and has incredibly harmed the U.S. military.

Rogers has offered the only public characterization of a classified Defense Department report on Snowden, saying it concluded that he downloaded about 1.7 million intelligence files while working for McLean, Virginia-based Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH)

Dianne Feinstein, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said while appearing with Rogers on NBC that Snowden may well have had assistance. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican whos chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the same day on ABCs This Week that he thought Snowden had help.

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Snowden Denies Working as Foreign Spy, New Yorker Reports