Category Archives: Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden’s NBC interview: ‘I know I’ve done the right thing’ – Video

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Edward Snowden #39;s NBC interview: #39;I know I #39;ve done the right thing #39;
Highlights from NSA whistleblower #39;s appearance on US television in which he defended his decision to go public about the NSA #39;s sprawling intelligence-gathering activities.

By: World News

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Edward Snowden's NBC interview: 'I know I've done the right thing' - Video

Edward Snowden: I Have No Relationship With Russia

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Edward Snowden said in an interview with NBC News that aired Wednesday that he has developed no relationship with Russia or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Snowden, a former systems analyst for the National Security Agency, downloaded intelligence documents while working for a private contractor and released them to U.S. and international news publications. The documents were the first public confirmation that the U.S. government was collecting vast amounts of telephone and email data on ordinary Americans in the U.S. and on citizens of allied nations abroad.

Snowden told NBC's Brian Williams that, while he has been living under temporary asylum in Russia to avoid being seized by the U.S. and put on trial for espionage, he has kept his distance from the country and its leader.

"I have no relationship with the Russian government, I've never met the Russian president. I'm not supported by the Russian government. I'm not taking money from the Russian government," Snowden said. "I'm not a spy, which is the real question."

He added that he didn't bring any NSA documents to Russia, and can't access them remotely.

"I took nothing to Russia so I could give them nothing," he said.

The interview was Snowden's first conversation with a U.S. television network since June 2013, when the U.S. revoked his passport, leaving him unable to leave Russia. The interview was months in the making, culminating in a five-hour meeting at Hotel Baltschug Kempinski in Moscow.

During the interview, Snowden claimed that the State Department is responsible for him being in Russia.

"The reality is I never intended to end up in Russia," Snowden said. "I had a flight booked to Cuba onwards to Latin America and I was stopped because the United States government decided to revoke my passport and trap me in Moscow Airport."

Secretary of State John Kerry responded to the charge Wednesday morning in a live interview with NBC's "Today" show.

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Edward Snowden: I Have No Relationship With Russia

Snowden: Obama broke policy vows

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Edward Snowden says that while he was inspired by President Obama's election, he's disappointed that Obama "embraced" or "extended" the surveillance policies of President Bush.

In his exclusive interview with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, Snowden would not say if he voted for Obama, arguing that should be kept private.

"Whether or not I voted for President Obama, I was inspired by him. He gave me courage, he gave me hope. I really believed that he would be a positive force for the country," Snowden said.

"And I still hope he will be."

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Snowden said Obama has failed to carry through on a pledge to reverse some of the policies of his predecessor.

"He's embraced the policies and he's extended the policies," the former NSA contractor said.

"He's not Bush. He's his own president. But the consonance in the policies should be concerning for a lot of Americans because he was a candidate that promised that he would give the public back its seat at the table of government.

"And he still has time to do so."

For his first American television interview, Snowden met for about five hours last week with Williams at a hotel in Moscow, where Snowden is living in exile while facing U.S. felony charges.

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Snowden: Obama broke policy vows

NSA releases Edward Snowden e-mail exchange – CNN.com

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From Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

updated 10:13 AM EDT, Fri May 30, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- The NSA has released an e-mail exchange between Edward Snowden and the agency's general counsel's office, countering a claim the former contractor made in an interview this week.

Speaking to NBC News in an interview that aired Wednesday, Snowden claimed that he'd reached out to the office while working as an National Security Agency contractor to report what he saw as an abuse of power by the agency.

"I reported that there were real problems with the way the NSA was interpreting its legal authorities," he told NBC's Brian Williams.

In the e-mail exchange released by the NSA Thursday, Snowden requests clarification about training material he'd received, asking whether executive orders can override federal laws.

The general counsel's office responded to Snowden's e-mail, saying that executive orders have the "force and effect of law" but cannot override a statute.

"Please give me a call if you would like to discuss further," the e-mail concludes.

In his interview with NBC, Snowden said that after raising concerns, he essentially was told to "stop asking questions."

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NSA releases Edward Snowden e-mail exchange - CNN.com

Edward Snowden analysis: Inside the mind of the man who …

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It is a highly unusual propaganda battle that was reignited last week with an interview given by Mr Snowden to NBC News. He had asserted that he had worked as a fully fledged spy for the NSA rather than as an analyst and, more crucially, that he had decided to hand over the secret materials only after he had tried to raise his concerns about the snooping practices with his superiors but to no avail.

While not quite calling him a liar, the NSA said it had found only one email from Mr Snowden before he absconded and that it had been limited to a narrow question to the agencys legal office about the standing of presidential executive orders vs established law. The email did not raise allegations or concerns about wrongdoing or abuse, the NSA flatly said in a statement.

Thus the matter is quickly devolving into a he-says, she-says stand-off that is unlikely to clarify anything. In another statement published yesterday by The Washington Post, Mr Snowden, 30, suggested that the NSAs presentation of the records was incomplete or tailored, implying that the agency is either withholding other emails or missives he directed towards his bosses or hasnt done enough to find them.

This was the first time the NSA had deemed it necessary to make public any internal communications between itself and Mr Snowden before he fled on 20 May last year to Hong Kong. But while the outcome of this struggle clearly matters to the agency, the stakes for Ms Snowden are much higher if he hopes ever to emerge from hiding in Russia and seek vindication rather than imprisonment in the United States.

While Mr Snowden has tricky public relations concerns, so too might the journalists who received the materials from him and put them in the public sphere. They have been rewarded with a shared Pulitzer Prize. But Glenn Greenwald, formerly of The Guardian, found himself the target of withering opprobrium in a New York Times book review last week for his just-published account of the leaks, No Place to Hide.

Written by the veteran commentator Michael Kinsley, the review not only accused Mr Greenwald of coming across as unpleasant but also took him to task for assigning to journalists a right to publish government secrets regardless of the consequences.

I cant see how we can have a policy that authorises newspapers and reporters to chase down and publish any national security leaks they can find, Mr Kinsley wrote. This isnt Easter and these are not eggs. Someone gets to decide and that someone cannot be Glenn Greenwald.

Thus was sparked a subplot to the wider drama with other media voices standing up for Mr Greenwald, including The New York Timess own readers advocate, Margaret Sullivan. Theres a lot about this piece that is unworthy of the Book Reviews high standards, she said. The sneering tone about Mr Greenwald, for example; he is called a go-between instead of a journalist and is described as a self-righteous sourpuss.

For the US government, the job of countering Mr Snowdens assertions last week fell first to John Kerry, the Secretary of State, who gave him no margin. He should man up and come back to the United States if he has a complaint about whats the matter with American surveillance, he told CBS News. Come back here and stand with our system of justice and make his case.

And Mr Kerry sought to remind Americans of the governments view that Mr Snowden is not just a traitor but one whose actions have had serious consequences. The fact is he has damaged his country, very significantly, in many, many ways, he said. He has hurt operational security. He has told terrorists what they can now do to be able to avoid detection, and I find it sad and disgraceful.

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Snowden: Obama broke vow

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Edward Snowden says that while he was inspired by President Obama's election, he's disappointed that Obama "embraced" or "extended" the surveillance policies of President Bush.

In his exclusive interview with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, Snowden would not say if he voted for Obama, arguing that should be kept private.

"Whether or not I voted for President Obama, I was inspired by him. He gave me courage, he gave me hope. I really believed that he would be a positive force for the country," Snowden said.

"And I still hope he will be."

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Snowden said Obama has failed to carry through on a pledge to reverse some of the policies of his predecessor.

"He's embraced the policies and he's extended the policies," the former NSA contractor said.

"He's not Bush. He's his own president. But the consonance in the policies should be concerning for a lot of Americans because he was a candidate that promised that he would give the public back its seat at the table of government.

"And he still has time to do so."

For his first American television interview, Snowden met for about five hours last week with Williams at a hotel in Moscow, where Snowden is living in exile while facing U.S. felony charges.

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Snowden: Obama broke vow