by Edward Snowden

Reality Winner

The Justice Department released an indictment of twenty five year-old NSA contractor Reality Winner, just a few hours after the Intercept posted a story based on a top secret document that described how the NSA believes Russian actors tried to hack into US voting infrastructure.

Much is unknown, as the public is made to depend upon the potentially unreliable claims of government prosecutors, while Winner is held in jail without any contact with the public.

What we do know is clear: Winner is accused of serving as a journalistic source for a leading American news outlet about a matter of critical public importance.

For this act, she has been charged with violating the Espionage Acta World War I era law meant for spieswhich explicitly forbids the jury from hearing why the defendant acted, and bars them from deciding whether the outcome was to the publics benefit.

This often-condemned law provides no space to distinguish the extraordinary disclosure of inappropriately classified information in the public interestwhistleblowingfrom the malicious disclosure of secrets to foreign governments by those motivated by a specific intent to harm to their countrymen.

The prosecution of any journalistic source without due consideration by the jury as to the harm or benefit of the journalistic activity is a fundamental threat to the free press. As long as a law like this remains on the books in a country that values fair trials, it must be resisted.

No matter ones opinions on the propriety of the charges against her, we should all agree Winner should be released on bail pending trial.

Even if you take all the government allegations as true, its clear she is neither a threat to public safety nor a flight risk.

To hold a citizen incommunicado and indefinitely while awaiting trial for the alleged crime of serving as a journalistic source should outrage us all.

Edward Snowden is president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Aformer intelligence officer who served the CIA, NSA, and DIA, in 2013, Snowden revealed the government was unconstitutionally seizing the private records of billions of peoplewho werenot suspected of wrongdoing, resulting in the largest debate about reforms to US surveillance policy since 1978.

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Edward Snowden on Trump administration's recent arrest of an alleged journalistic source - NJ TODAY

In 2013, Edward Snowdens life -- and the world -- changed forever. This former NSA contractor blew the whistle on the agencys practice of collecting private information and conducting mass surveillance on citizens when he brought evidence to the press and then left the country.

In a video chat moderated by Secret Knock conference organizerGreg S. Reid, I was able to ask him a question directly. "Do you have any regrets?" I asked.

My mission was never to change the world, he said.My mission was to return public information to public hands so you could determine whether things should change.... I regret only that I did not do more -- sooner and bolder."

In part, Snowden hoped his actions would embolden others to step forward when they saw wrongdoing. While the majority of us will never be called on to report anything of comparable national or global scale, you may be one day called on to speak up. In a 2011 poll, 45 percent of American workers stated that they had observed wrongdoing in the workplace. Whether you're a business owner or an employee, here are my suggestions, coupled with Snowden's experience, on how to stop being a passive observer and become a safe whistleblower.

Related:Why You Should EncourageWhistleblowingin Your Organization

The line between a whistleblower and a leaker is fine and hotly debated. The general distinguishing mark tends to be the avenues taken to release information to the public. Whistleblowers are those who follow legally established procedures for exposing wrongdoing; they work within the system, reporting to the proper authorities so that matters can be handled internally. The leaker is one who bypasses the system altogether and goes directly to the press. The former is protected and guided by law; the latter is not.

To this day, Snowden maintains he did everything he could to work within the system. I still made tremendous efforts to report these programs to co-workers, supervisors, and anyone with the proper clearance who would listen, he said in a 2014 live Q&A. 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 to through what [Thomas] Drake did.

It was only after facing this internal resistance that he turned to journalists to help get his message out. Even then, he was careful. As a condition of access to archive, I required journalists to go to the government in advance and tell them what they were going to be writing so the government had a chance for rebuttal, he said. In every case, process has been followed.

Related:Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Launches Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Claims

For those who would follow Snowdens example, the single greatest obstacle is fear. Snowdens colleagues were intimidated by the example of Thomas Drake, former NSA executive who revealed unethical acts committed by the NSA and subsequently endured raids by the FBI and prolonged prosecution. Similar examples are often enough to deter any would-be whistleblower.

The greatest threat to fear is knowledge. Take time to investigate whistleblower protection programs. Research and understand your rights. Identify those groups that can support you while working.

Related:When the CEO Goes Bad, the Whole Company Needs a Fresh Look

Protection aside, once youve blown the whistle, youre in for a rough ride. Snowden had no misunderstandings. Though he never intended to end up in Russia, he did expect to end up in a jumpsuit in Guantanamo Bay. He understood that calling attention would mean an end of his life as hed been living it. I realized I had to come forward, light a match, burn my life to the ground if this was really going to work.

As Snowdens case has demonstrated, whistleblowing isnt as simple as identifying a problem and accepting a reward. Be ready for backlash from within and without your organization as you stand by your principles. Since 2009, retaliation has increased 83 percent, while whistleblowing incidents have only increased by 12 percent.

If youre not willing to be called bad names, . . . you dont really believe in anything that much, he says. Being criticized is the price of admission for achieving change. The most common thing in the world of politics is that change is never comfortable.

Intimidation isnt the only route that businesses and governments will take to silence whistleblowers. Many will offer hush money, effectively turning you from an opponent into an accomplice. Dont take that risk. Too many examples show when the coverup is revealed, both the company and the silenced party are worse off.

On the one hand, hotlines are a powerful asset. Calls are made and recorded are proof the employee has performed their due diligence in reporting wrongdoing.

On the other hand, the hotline is a conflict of interest on the companys part. In his book, The Whistleblowers Handbook, Stephen Kohn advises caution. Hotline programs are under no duty to help whistleblowers, Kohn writes. They are voluntary programs, and the nature and extent of their investigations are outside of the control of the employee. There is no requirement that these programs offer employees complete or accurate information about their legal rights. In other words, the programs exist for the benefit of the government/corporation; they are not legal service programs for whistleblowers.

Related:Radical Inclusion: How Burning Man is Helping Create a New Breed of Entrepreneur

When asked, Snowden said he only regrets how long it took him to come forward.

I would do it again, he said. Despite everything that has happened to him, he believes firmly that the good in the world outweighs the bad. Investigation incited by Snowdens revelations revealed that the NSAs mass surveillance tactics had done nothing to stop terror attacks. Despite condemning Snowdens actions in his State of the Union address, President Obama called for reform within the NSA and Congress. None of that would have happened if Snowden hadnt taken the risk and come forward.

Amy Osmond Cook, Ph.D., is the CEO of Osmond Marketing. She enjoys reading business books, playing the violin and trying new restaurants with her husband and five children. Follow her at @amyocook.

Originally posted here:
The Perils of Whistleblowing: My Interview With Edward Snowden - Entrepreneur

London: Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have bad days because he is "not a woman", and would rather not shower next to a gay man because he wouldn`t want to "provoke him".

The Russian President`s comments came in series of interviews with American film director Oliver Stone on topics ranging from geopolitics to gay rights and Edward Snowden.

"The Putin Interviews", a documentary comprised of conversations with the Russian president that took place between July 2015 and February 2017, show Putin musing on life and philosophy.

"Do you ever have a bad day?" Putin was asked during a tour of the Throne Room, and he said, "I`m not a woman so I don`t have bad days." He then doubles down on the misogyny, explaining that, "There are certain natural cycles which men probably have as well, just less manifested. We are all human beings.

It`s normal. But you should never lose control," the Guardian quotes Putin, as saying.On the question whether gays can serve in the military in Russia, Putin said, "If you`re taking a shower in a submarine with a man and you know he`s gay, do they have a problem with that?

"Putin even denied that there was any persecution of gay people in Russia, despite a law being passed against the "propaganda of homosexuality among minors" and recent reports of a "gay purge" in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

When asked whether he would be comfortable showering next to a gay man, he said no."I prefer not to go to the shower with him. Why provoke him? But you know, I`m a judo master," said Putin laughing.In the interview with Stone, Putin reveals that he once suggested to former U.S. president Bill Clinton that Russia may consider joining a Washington-led military alliance.

Commenting on U.S. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Russian President said, "Snowden is not a traitor. He did not betray the interests of his country.

Nor did he transfer any information to any other country which would have been pernicious to his own country or to his own people. The only thing Snowden does, he does publicly."Putin also appeared to change the story of how Snowden ended up in Moscow."Our first contact with Snowden was in China.

We were told back then that this was a person who wanted to fight against violations of human rights," Putin said.At the time, however, Putin and other Russian officials gave the impression that the first Russia knew of Snowden was when he arrived in Moscow with the intention to transit to Latin America.

"Snowden arrived in Moscow, which was completely unexpected for us. He came as a transit passenger, so he didn`t need a visa or other documents," Putin said then.When asked if he was worried about assassination attempts, Putin said "They say those who are destined to be hanged are not going to drown.

"Putin, an ex- KGB Foreign Intelligence Officer for 16 years, said "I remember one of our last meetings with President Clinton, when Clinton was still in office. He visited Moscow and during a discussion I said, `So, what if [we] consider an option of Russia maybe joining NATO.

"While Clinton replied that he "didn`t mind," the rest of the American delegation became visibly nervous, Putin recalled with a smile.Putin called NATO "an instrument of America`s foreign policy," saying that the US-led alliance "has no allies, but only vassals.

"According to the Russian leader, some member states find it hard to resist Washington`s pressure, and thus, "anything can be easily placed" on their territories, including both anti-missile and offensive systems.

"And what are we supposed to do? Due to that, we have to take counter measures," Putin told his American interviewer. Promoted as "the most detailed portrait of Putin ever granted to a Western interviewer," it will feature interviews between the director and the Russian leader that were made during several encounters over two years.

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Vladimir Putin reveals his views on women, gays and Edward Snowden - Zee News

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is speaking out in support of Reality Winner, who was arrested by the FBI onSaturday on charges of violating the Espionage Act.

Winner, 25, a federal contractor with Pluribus International Corp. in Augusta, Georgia, is accused ofremoving classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The arrest came after The Intercept releaseda classified National Security Agency reportabout Russian military intelligence officers alleged attempt to carry out a cyberattack on a voting software company and on local election officials days before the 2016 U.S. election.

Snowden can relate to Winners experience, as he was charged in 2013with stealing government property and violating the Espionage Act.The former Central Intelligence Agency employee and NSA contractor has been living under asylum in Russia ever since he fled the United States that year.

Winner is currentlybeing held in a federal detention center in Lincolnton, Georgia. Her attorney Titus Nichols fears shes being questioned when hes not present.

Reuters

Snowden, who is president of the board for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, described the Espionage Act as a fundamental threat to the free press in a statement on Tuesday.

He wrote that the World War I era law meant for spies explicitly forbids the jury from hearing why the defendant acted, and bars them from deciding whether the outcome was to the publics benefit.

Snowden says thats especially chilling because Winner was allegedly a journalistic source for a leading American news outlet about a matter of critical public importance, and not a spy.

This often-condemned law provides no space to distinguish the extraordinary disclosure of inappropriately classified information in the public interestwhistleblowing from the malicious disclosure of secrets to foreign governments by those motivated by a specific intent to harm to their countrymen.

Snowden said that if America truly values free trials, Winner deserves to be released on bail.

No matter ones opinions on the propriety of the charges against her, we should all agree Winner should be released on bail pending trial. Even if you take all the government allegations as true, its clear she is neither a threat to public safety nor a flight risk. To hold a citizen incommunicado and indefinitely while awaiting trial for the alleged crime of serving as a journalistic source should outrage us all.

See more here:
Edward Snowden: Prosecuting NSA Leaker Threatens The Free Press - HuffPost

Russian President Vladimir Putinbelieves Edward Snowdens decisionto leaktop-secret information from the National Security Agency was wrong.

Yet speaking in an interview with Oliver Stone for a series called The Putin Interviews,which airs onShowtime on June 12, the Russian president also defended Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is currently living in exile in Moscow.

Related: Putin slams Trump-Russia probe

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As an ex-KGB agent, you must have hated what Snowden did with every fiber of your being? Stone asks Putin through a translator in a clip from the show.

"Snowden is not a traitor," Putin replies. "He didnt betray the interest of his country. Nor did he transfer any information to any other country which would have been pernicious to his own country or to his own people.

Still, the Russian president said he thought Snowden had other options.

I think he shouldnt have done it," Putin said.

If he didnt like anything at his work, he should have simply resigned. But he went further. Thats his right. But since you are asking me whether it's right or wrong, I think its wrong.

The four-part special from Stone will air a week after Putin's much publicized interview withNBC's Megyn Kelly and comes at a time when allegations continue to swirl that Russian intelligence meddled in the 2016 presidential election and possibly colluded with now-President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Oliver Stone for series called "The Putin Interviews." Dmitri Lovetsky/Pool/Reuters

During the interview with Stone, Putin also defended the actions of his own intelligence services.

"Our intelligence services always conform to the law," the Russian president said. "Thats the first thing. And secondly, trying to spy on your allies if you really consider them allies and not vassals is just indecent. Because it undermines trust. And it means that in the end it deals damage to your own national security."

Originally posted here:
Vladimir Putin on Edward Snowden's NSA Leak: He Shouldn't Have Done It - Newsweek

A 25-year-old government contractor was arrested Tuesday after providing a top secret NSA document to the news website The Intercept, reports NBC News. The document is from May 5.

The document is an analysis of Russian intelligence efforts to undermine the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It doesnt detail a direct link to any votes being changed, but does outline a concerted and deeper effort than previously known. The analysis describes a technique called spear phishing, where spoof e-mails invite user to click on links or open attachments that contain malicious software. The attacks targeted an election software company and 122 local election officials.

Read:Edward Snowden Reacts To WikiLeaks' Vault 7 Dump, Calls CIA Documents 'Authentic'

This is in direct opposition to what Russian President Vladimir has claimed, saying that the Russian state has not been involved in any kind of hacking.

The leaker, a government contractor named Reality Leigh Winner, was charged with gathering, transmitting or losing defense information in U.S. District Court in Georgia. The federal complaint accuses Winner of unlawfully transmit(ing) the intelligence reporting to an online news outlet.

Winner worked for Pluribus International Corporation in Georgia. CNN reportedThursdaythat her mother said she had never praised past leakers such as Edward Snowden and wasnt particularly political. She also spent six months in the military.

Winner had a top secret clearance for documents and faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Snowden case differs from Winner in several key components.

While we dont know if Winner took more than the one document, Snowden took thousands, at least seven thousand of which have been published, according to Business Insider.

Snowden was also careful to leave his job as a contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii and flee to China before releasing the documents, putting him out of reach of authorities. Both are charged with violating the espionage act.

Read:Why The US Wants To Arrest Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Founder, A Matter Jeff Sessions Called 'A Priority'

Both leakers, however, are working with journalist Glenn Greenwald. The Intercept was founded in 2013 by Greenwald. Snowden worked with Greenwald while he was reporting for British newspaper The Guardian. Both leakers took information related to the NSA, but Snowdens had far greater reach and impact.

President Donald Trump has been very vocal about his disdain for leakers, especially on Twitter. He often parlays news stories by going after leakers as the real story.

Reality Winner poses in a photo posted to her Instagram account Photo: REUTERS

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How Does Reality Winner Compare To Edward Snowden After Leaking NSA Documents? - International Business Times

MOSCOW Edward Snowden, who exposed the existence of highly invasive U.S. surveillance programs in 2013, warned this week that Japan might be moving closer to achieving sweeping surveillance of ordinary citizens with a bill that gives the police highly invasive surveillance powers in the name of counterterrorism.

This is the beginning of a new wave of mass surveillance in Japan, the 33-year-old American said in an exclusive interview from his exile in Russia, referring to Japans conspiracy bill, which has stirred controversy at home and abroad as having the potential to undermine civil liberties.

The consequences could be even graver when combined with XKEYSCORE, a wide-reaching U.S. data collection tool that was exposed by the former National Security Agency contractor. Snowden also gave credence to the authenticity of new NSA papers exposed by The Intercept website earlier this year that showed the secretive spy agency has already shared the surveillance tool with Japan.

The warning from the intelligence expert is his latest regarding the Japanese governments effort to push the divisive conspiracy bill through the Diet. It criminalizes the planning of and the preparatory actions for 277 serious crimes.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in mid-May, a U.N. special rapporteur on the right to privacy stated that the conspiracy bill could lead to undue restrictions on privacy and freedom of expression because of its potential for widespread use and abuse a claim Abes government strongly denies.

Snowden said he agrees with the U.N.-appointed expert, Joseph Cannataci, because the bill is not well explained and raises concerns that the government may have intentions other than its stated goal of cracking down on terrorism and organized crime ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The conspiracy law, proposed by the government, focuses on terrorism and everything else that is not related to terrorism things like taking plants from the forestry reserve, he said. And the only real understandable answer (to the governments desire to pass the legislation) . . . is that this is a bill that authorizes the use of surveillance in new ways because now everyone can be a criminal.

Based on his experience of using XKEYSCORE, Snowden said the authorities will eventually be able to intercept everyones communications, including people who are organizing political movements or protests, and put them in a bucket.

The records would be simply pulled out of the bucket whenever necessary and the public would not be able to know whether the activities are being undertaken legally or secretly by the government because there are no sufficient legal safeguards in the bill, Snowden said.

Snowden finds the current situation in Japan reminiscent of what he went through in the United States after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In passing the Patriot Act, which strengthened the U.S. governments investigative powers in the wake of the attacks, the U.S. government said similar things to what the Japanese government is saying now, such as these powers are not going to be targeted against ordinary citizens and were only interested in finding al-Qaida and terrorists, according to Snowden.

But within a few short years of the Patriot Act being enacted, the U.S. government was using the law secretly to collect the phone records of everyone in the United States, and everyone around the world who they could access through the largest phone companies in the United States, Snowden said, referring to the revelations made in 2013 from the top secret NSA documents he leaked.

Even though it sacrifices civil liberties, mass surveillance is ineffective, Snowden said. The U.S. governments privacy watchdog concluded in its 2014 report that the NSAs massive telephone records program showed minimal value in safeguarding America from terrorism and that it must be terminated.

Snowden said Japan should insert strong guarantees into the conspiracy bill to protect human rights and privacy and ensure those guarantees are not enforced through the words of politicians but through the actions of courts.

This means in advance of surveillance, in all cases the government should seek an individualized warrant, and individualized authorization that this surveillance is lawful and appropriate in relationship to the threat thats presented by the police, he said.

He also said allowing a government to get into the habit of collecting the communications of everyone through powerful surveillance tools could dangerously change the relationship between the public and the government to something resembling subject and ruler rather than a partnership, which is how it should be in a democracy.

Arguably, the Japanese public may not make much of what Snowden views as the rise of untargeted and indiscriminate mass surveillance, thinking everyday people have nothing to hide or to fear.

But he insists that privacy is not about something to hide but about protecting an open and free society where people can be different and have their own ideas.

Freedom of speech would not mean much if people didnt have the space to figure out what they want to say, or the room to share their views with others they trust so they can develop them before introducing them into the context of the world, he said.

When you say I dont care about privacy, because Ive nothing to hide, thats no different than saying you dont care about freedom of speech, because youve nothing to say, he added.

Snowden said toward the end of the more than 100-minute interview at a hotel in Moscow that living in exile is not a lifestyle that anyone chooses voluntarily. He hopes to return home while continuing to have active exchanges online with people in various countries.

The beautiful thing about today is that I can be in every corner of the world every night. I speak at U.S. universities every month. Its important to understand that I dont really live in Moscow. I live on the internet, he said.

Snowden showed no regrets about taking the risk of becoming a whistle-blower and being painted by his home country as a criminal or traitor, facing espionage charges at home for his historic document leak.

Its scary as hell, but its worth it. Because if we dont do it, if we see the truth of crimes or corruption in government, and we dont say something about it, were not just making the world worse for our children, were making the world worse for us, and were making ourselves worse, he said.

Read more here:
Japan close to ushering in new wave of mass surveillance ... - The Japan Times

Computer Programmer(1983)

Edward Snowden is a former National Security Agency subcontractor who made headlines in 2013 when he leaked top secret information about NSA surveillance activities.

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quotes

I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things ... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.

I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, [but] I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.

I'm willing to sacrifice [my former life] because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.

I had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.

I realized that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good.

I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong.

I don't see myself as a hero, because what I'm doing is self-interested. I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.

I do not expect to see home again, though that is what I want.

Edward Snowden

Born in North Carolina in 1983, Edward Snowden later worked for the National Security Agency through subcontractor Booz Allen in the organization's Oahu office. During his time there, Snowden collected top-secret documents regarding NSA domestic surveillance practices that he found disturbing. After Snowden fled to Hong Kong, China and met withjournalists from The Guardian and filmmakerLaura Poitras, newspapers began printing the documents that he had leaked, many of them detailing the monitoring of American citizens. The U.S. has charged Snowden with violations of the Espionage Act while many groups call him a hero. Snowden has found asylum in Russia and continues to speak about his work.Citzenfour, adocumentary by Poitras about his story, won an Oscar in 2015. He is also the subject ofSnowden, a 2016 biopic directed by Oliver Stone andstarringJoseph Gordon-Levitt.

Edward Snowden was born inElizabeth City,North Carolina, on June 21, 1983. His mother works for the federal court in Baltimore (the family moved to Maryland during Snowden's youth) as chief deputy clerk for administration and information technology. Snowden's father, a former Coast Guard officer, later relocated to Pennsylvania and remarried.

Snowden dropped out of high school and studied computers at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland (from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2004 to 2005). Between his stints at community college, Snowden spent four months from May to September 2004in special-forces trainingin the Army Reserves, but he did not complete his training. Snowden told The Guardian that he was discharged from the Army after he broke both his legs in a training accident. However, an unclassified report published on September 15, 2016 by the House Intelligence Committee refuted his claim, stating: He claimed to have left Army basic training because of broken legs when in fact he washed out because of shin splints.

Snowden eventually landed a job as a security guard at the University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language. The institution had ties to the National Security Agency, and, by 2006, Snowden had taken an information-technology job at the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2009, after being suspected of trying to break into classified files, he left to work for private contractors, among them Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton, a tech consulting firm. While at Dell, he worked as a subcontractor in an NSA office in Japanbefore being transferred to an office in Hawaii. After a short time, he moved from Dell to Booz Allen, another NSA subcontractor, and remained with the company for only three months.

During his years of IT work, Snowden had noticed the far reach of theNSA's everyday surveillance. While working for Booz Allen, Snowden began copying top-secret NSA documents, building a dossier on practices that he found invasive and disturbing. The documents contained vast information on the NSA's domestic surveillance practices.

After he had compiled a large store of documents, Snowden told his NSA supervisor that he needed a leave of absence for medical reasons, stating he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. On May 20, 2013, Snowden took a flight to Hong Kong, China, where he remained as he orchestrated a clandestine meeting with journalists from the U.K. publication The Guardian as well as filmmaker Laura Poitras. On June 5,TheGuardianreleased secret documents obtained from Snowden. In these documents, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court implemented an order that required Verizon to release information to the NSA on an "ongoing, daily basis" culled from its American customers' phone activities.

The following day, TheGuardian and TheWashington Postreleased Snowden's leaked information on PRISM, an NSA program that allows real-time information collection electronically. A flood of information followed, and both domestic and international debate ensued.

"I'm willing to sacrifice [my former life] because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building," Snowden said in interviews given from his Hong Kong hotel room. One of the people he left behind was his girlfriend Lindsay Mills. The pair had been living together in Hawaii, and she reportedly had no idea that he was about to disclose classified information to the public.

The U.S. government soon responded to Snowden's disclosures legally. On June 14, 2013, federal prosecutors charged Snowden with "theft of government Property," "unauthorized communication of national defense information" and "willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person." The last two charges fall under the Espionage Act. (BeforePresident Barack Obamatook office, the act had only been used for prosecutorial purposes three times since 1917. Since President Obama took office, the act had been invoked seven times as of June 2013.)

Snowden remained in hiding for slightly more than a month. He initially planned to relocate to Ecuador for asylum, but, upon making a stopover, he became stranded in a Russian airport for a month when his passport was annulled by the American government. The Russian government denied U.S. requests to extradite Snowden. While some decried him as a traitor, others supported his cause, and more than 100,000 people signed an online petition asking President Obama to pardon Snowden by late June.

The following month, Snowden made headlines again when it was announced that he had been offered asylum in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Snowden soon made up his mind,expressing an interest in staying in Russia. One of his lawyers, Anatoly Kucherena, stated that Snowden would seek temporary asylum in Russia and possibly apply for citizenship later. Snowden thanked Russia for giving him asylum and said that "in the end the law is winning."

That October, Snowden stated that he no longer possessed any of the NSA files that he leaked to press. He gave the materials to the journalists he met with in Hong Kong, but he didn't keep copies for himself. Snowden explained that "it wouldn't serve the public interest" for him to have brought the files to Russia, according to The New York Times. Around this time, Snowden's father, Lon, visited his son in Moscow and continued to publicly express support.

In November 2013, Snowden'srequest to the U.S. government for clemency was rejected. The fallout from his disclosures continued to unfold over the next few months, including a legal battle over the collection of phone data by the NSA. President Obamasought to calm fears over government spying in January 2014, ordering U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review the country's surveillance programs.

Still in exile, Snowden remained a polarizing figure. He made an appearance at the popular South by Southwest festival via teleconference in March 2014. Around this time, the U.S. military revealed that the information Snowden leaked may have caused billions of dollars in damage to its security structures.

In May 2014, Snowden gave a revealing interview with NBC News. He told Brian Williams that he was a trained spy who worked undercover as an operative for the CIA and NSA, an assertion denied by National Security Adviser Susan Ricein a CNN interview. Snowden explained that he viewed himself as a patriot, believing his actions had beneficial results. He stated that his leaking of information led to "a robust public debate" and "new protections in the United States and abroad for our rights to make sure they're no longer violated." He also expressed an interest in returning home to America.

That same year, Snowden was featured in Poitras's highly acclaimed documentary Citizenfour.The director had recorded her meetings with Snowden andGuardian journalist Glenn Greenwald. The film went on to win an Academy Award in 2015. Poitras and the winning team was joined onstage by Snowden's girlfriend Mills, with the documentarian saying during her acceptance speech, "When the decisions that rule us are taken in secret, we lose the power to control and govern ourselves."

Since its release, Snowden has remained outspoken about government surveillance. He appeared with Poitras and Greenwald via video-conference in February 2015. Earlier that month, Snowden spoke with students at Upper Canada College via video-conference. He told them that "the problem with mass surveillance is when you collect everything, you understand nothing." He also stated that government spying "fundamentally changes the balance of power between the citizen and the state."

On September 29, 2015, Snowden joined the social media platform Twitter, tweeting "Can you hear me now?" He had almost two million followers in a little over 24 hours.

Just a few days later, Snowden spoke to the New Hampshire Liberty Forum via Skype and stated he would be willing to return to the U.S. if the government could guarantee a fair trial.

On September 13, 2016, Snowden said in an interview with The Guardian that he would seek a pardon from President Obama. Yes, there are laws on the books that say one thing, but that is perhaps why the pardon power exists for the exceptions, for the things that may seem unlawful in letters on a page but when we look at them morally, when we look at them ethically, when we look at the results, it seems these were necessary things, these were vital things, he said in the interview.

The next day various human rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Internationallaunched a campaign requesting thatObama pardon Snowden. Appearing via a telepresence robot, Snowden expressed gratitude for the support. "I love my country. I love my family," he said. "I don't know where we're going from here. I don't know what tomorrow looks like. But I'm glad for the decisions I've made. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined, three years ago, such an outpouring of solidarity."

He also emphasized that his case resonates beyond him. "This really isnt about me," he said. "Its about us. Its about our right to dissent. Its about the kind of country we want to have."

A day later on September 15, the House Intelligence Committee released a three-page unclassified summaryof a report about its two-year investigation into Snowdens case. In the summary, Snowden was characterized as a disgruntled employee who had frequent conflicts with his managers, a serial exaggerator and fabricator and not a whistle-blower.

Snowden caused tremendous damage to national security, and the vast majority of the documents he stole have nothing to do with programs impacting individual privacy interests they instead pertain to military, defense and intelligence programs of great interest to Americas adversaries, the summary of the report stated.

Members of the committee also unanimously signed a letter to President Obama asking him not to pardon Snowden. We urge you not to pardon Edward Snowden, who perpetrated the largest and most damaging public disclosure of classified information in our nations history, the letter stated. If Mr. Snowden returns from Russia, where he fled in 2013, the U.S. government must hold him accountable for his actions.

Snowden responded on Twitter saying: "Their report is so artlessly distorted that it would be amusing if it weren't such a serious act of bad faith." He followed with a series of tweets refuting the committee's claims and said: "I could go on. Bottom line: after 'two years of investigation,' the American people deserve better. This report diminishes the committee."

Snowden also tweeted that the release of the committee's summary was an effort to discourage people from watching Snowden, a biopic directed by Oliver Stone with Snowden's cooperation and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role. The film was released in the United States on September 16.

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Edward Snowden - Computer Programmer - Biography.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he believes former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was wrong to leak U.S. spy secrets, but is no traitor.

Snowden, 33, was given asylum in Russia in 2013 after leaking classified information about U.S. spy operations. His lawyer said in January Snowden had the right to remain in Russia until 2020 and to apply for Russian citizenship next year.

Putin, a former KGB officer and ex-head of Russia's FSB security service, made his comments about Snowden in an interview with U.S. film director Oliver Stone, excerpts of which were released ahead of its broadcast by U.S. TV network Showtime from June 12.

"Snowden is not a traitor," said Putin. "He did not betray the interests of his country, nor did he transfer any information to any other country that would damage his own people," said Putin.

However, the Russian leader said Snowden should have resigned from his job in the same way he once resigned from the KGB rather than leak secrets if he didn't like what he was doing.

"He shouldn't have done it (leaked secrets). My view is that what he did was wrong," Putin told Stone.

Snowden had the right to act in the way he did however, said Putin, who said he agreed that U.S. surveillance had become too intrusive, while praising his own country's intelligence services for operating within the law.

Putin also criticised U.S. eavesdropping on its own allies like Germany, saying such activity inevitably backfired.

"Trying to spy on your allies, if you really consider them allies and not vassals, is just indecent," said Putin. "It undermines trust, and in the end damages your own national security."

Snowden has used social media to criticise the Russian authorities over a law obliging communications companies to store phone calls and Internet activity for six months. The Russian authorities have not commented on those remarks.

-Reuters

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Putin says Edward Snowden was wrong to leak US secrets - The Independent

Vladimir Putin has appearedto confirmduring an interview that he has survived multiple assassination attempts.

The Russian president made the comments in excerpts from a series of interviews with JFK director OliverStone,that will be aired later this month.

In previews of the interviews, released on Thursday evening, Mr Putin and Mr Stone discuss attitudes to death. Asked by Mr Stone about five alleged assassination attempts, Mr Putin said his security team look after him and that "up to now they haven't done badly."

"I trust them," he added when asked if he feared assassins could infiltrate his security detail.

"You know what our people say: he who is fated to be hanged won't drown," he adds to Stone, who does not have an immediate answer.

Asked what his own fate would be, he said: "Only God knows our fate."

In anothersegment, Mr Putin defended Edward Snowden, saying he waswas wrong to leak details US intelligence eavesdropping programs but is not a traitor to the United States.

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'He who is fated to be hanged won't drown': Vladimir Putin appears to confirm attempts to assassinate him - Telegraph.co.uk