Category Archives: Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden says he was trained ‘as a spy’ | Reuters

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WASHINGTON Wed May 28, 2014 4:14pm EDT

1 of 3. 'NBC Nightly News' anchor and managing editor Brian Williams (L) sits during an interview with former U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden in Moscow in this undated handout photo released by NBC News May 28, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/NBC News/Handout via Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details of massive U.S. intelligence-gathering programs, said in a U.S. TV interview he "was trained as a spy" and had worked undercover overseas for U.S. government agencies.

In an advance excerpt of his interview in Moscow with "NBC Nightly News" that aired on Tuesday, Snowden rejected comments by critics that he was a low-level analyst.

"Well, it's no secret that the U.S. tends to get more and better intelligence out of computers nowadays than they do out of people," Snowden told NBC news anchor Brian Williams.

"I was trained as a spy in sort of 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."

Describing himself as a "technical expert," Snowden said: "I don't work with people. I don't recruit agents. What I do is I put systems to work for the United States. And I've done that at all levels from - from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top."

He said he worked undercover overseas for both the CIA and NSA and lectured at the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy "where I developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world."

"So when they (critics) 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," Snowden added.

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Edward Snowden says he was trained 'as a spy' | Reuters

Edward Snowden says email released by NSA is "incomplete"

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WASHINGTON -- Edward Snowden says he repeatedly raised constitutional concerns about National Security Agency surveillance internally, but an NSA search turned up a single email in which Snowden gently asks for "clarification" on a technical legal question about training materials, agency officials said Thursday. Snowden later called the official release of the email "incomplete."

Snowden, a former NSA systems administrator whose leaks have exposed some of the agency's most sensitive spying operations, called himself a patriot in an interview this week with NBC News' Brian Williams. He said he felt he had no choice but to expose what he considered illegal NSA surveillance by leaking secret details to journalists.

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White House spokesman Jay Carney disputes Edward Snowden's claim that he tried to blow the whistle internally before going public with his leaks ...

NSA officials have said he gained access to some 1.7 million classified documents, though it's not clear how many he removed from the Hawaii facility where he worked as a contractor.

Asked by Williams whether he first raised his qualms with his bosses, he said, "I reported that there were real problems with the way the NSA was interpreting its legal authorities."

On Thursday, NSA released the email they said Snowden appeared to be referring to, which the agency says is the only communication from Snowden it could find raising any concerns. It was dated April 8, 2013, three months after Snowden first reached out to journalists anonymously. Former NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander said the agency could find no one to whom Snowden voiced concerns verbally either.

In the email to NSA's general counsel's office, Snowden questions an NSA document showing the hierarchy of governing authorities, which appeared to put executive orders on par with federal statutes.

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National Security Advisor Susan Rice speaks with Charlie Rose about NSA leaker Edward Snowden and rejects his claims of not hurting American secu...

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Edward Snowden says email released by NSA is "incomplete"

Snowden Strikes Back at NSA, Emails NBC News

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Fugitive Edward Snowden on Friday challenged the NSAs insistence that it has no evidence he tried to raise concerns about the agencys surveillance activity before he began leaking government documents to reporters, calling the response a clearly tailored and incomplete leak ... for a political advantage.

The NSA's new discovery of written contact between me and its lawyers -- after more than a year of denying any such contact existed - raises serious concerns, Snowden said in an email Friday to NBC News. It reveals as false the NSA's claim to Barton Gellman of the Washington Post in December of last year, that after extensive investigation, including interviews with his former NSA supervisors and co-workers, we have not found any evidence to support Mr. Snowdens contention that he brought these matters to anyones attention.

Snowdens email followed Thursdays release by the U.S. Office of the Director of Intelligence of an email exchange between Snowden and the NSAs Office of the General Counsel. The Washington Post received and published a similar response from Snowden on Thursday.

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That email, dated April 5 , 2013, and bearing the subject line Question for OGC re. OVSC1800 Course Content, was a request for clarification about a legal point in training materials for a mandatory course regarding policies and procedures restricting domestic surveillance by the NSA. Its primary focus was on the question of whether an executive order issued by the president could trump a federal statute.

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The NSA has said it is the only email or other communication that it has found in which Snowden communicated with agency officials about the NSAs surveillance program, countering his assertion that he had sent multiple emails to their Office of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks raising concerns about the NSAs interpretations of its legal authorities, as he claimed in an exclusive interview with NBC News Brian Williams that aired Wednesday night.

The NSA released this Edward Snowden email to the Office of General Counsel asking for an explanation of some material that was in a training course he had just completed, Thursday May 29, 2014.

Two U.S. officials who spoke to NBC News about the email prior to its release noted that it asked a question about how the NSA was interpreting its legal justifications for domestic surveillance, but had not raised concerns about the NSAs practices.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, made a similar point in a statement on Thursday, saying that the email does not support Snowdens account.

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Snowden Strikes Back at NSA, Emails NBC News

Snowden: Obama Broke Vow to Change Bush Policies

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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 to Change Bush Policies

Snowden says Obama broke vow on policy

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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 says Obama broke vow on policy

Alex Jones Show – Commercial Free Podcast: Wednesday (5-28-14) Dr. Edward Group – Video

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Alex Jones Show - Commercial Free Podcast: Wednesday (5-28-14) Dr. Edward Group
On the Wednesday, May 28 edition of the Alex Jones Show, Jones looks at straight-from-the-horse #39;s-mouth revelations from supposed Booze Allen Hamilton contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed...

By: ConspiracyScope

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Alex Jones Show - Commercial Free Podcast: Wednesday (5-28-14) Dr. Edward Group - Video