FBI finds a ‘second Snowden’

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- An unidentified "second leaker," after Edward Snowden, is under investigation for disclosing sensitive intelligence secrets.

A suspect under investigation allegedly passed information regarding the U.S. government's terrorist watch list to The Intercept, a news website associated with Snowden, Yahoo News reported Monday. It added law enforcement and intelligence sources said the FBI searched the Virginia home of a government contractor who is believed to have disclosed sensitive information regarding the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment; they added a criminal investigation has begun in the matter.

Details of the watch list obtained from Snowden, published on the Intercept, were dated August 2013, months after the website first published information obtained from Snowden, a former NSA contractor. It fostered speculation of the existence of a second person providing the website with information, Yahoo News said.

U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Marc Raimondi reportedly commented, "Investigators are continuing to pursue it (the case against the alleged second leaker), but are not ready to charge yet."

Existence of a second person who allegedly turned over sensitive material to reporters was mentioned in the documentary film Citizenfour, directed by The Intercept co-founder Laura Poitras, released last week. The film reportedly shows Snowden excited to learn of a new leak in U.S. intelligence.

The film suggests the second leaker provided Snowden with information outlining "the rulebook for placing people on a variety of watch lists," The Intercept journalist Jeremy Scahill reportedly in an interview on the radio program "Democracy Now" last week. Scahill reportedly added the source is "an extremely principled and brave whistleblower," the International Business Times reported Tuesday.

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FBI finds a 'second Snowden'