In his first ever interview with a U.S. TV network, the NSA whistlebower said many of the terms used to describe him were 'misleading' Snowden said, he 'developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile environments' A one-hour interview with NBC will air on Wednesday night Nightly News anchor Brian Williams travelled to Moscow to meet him

By David Mccormack

Published: 21:50 EST, 27 May 2014 | Updated: 01:40 EST, 28 May 2014

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has hit back at claims made by the Obama administration that he was merely a low-level hacker and has claimed that he worked undercover for both the CIA and the National Security Agency.

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, he told NBC News in his first interview with a U.S. TV network.

Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia after revealing details of U.S. spying activities to journalists, portrayed himself as a technical specialist... a technical expert.

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Edward Snowden 'trained as a spy' and rejects claims he was a low-level hacker

Edward Snowden, in an exclusive interview with "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, is fighting back against critics who dismissed him as a low-level hacker saying he was trained as a spy and offered technical expertise to high levels of government.

Snowden defended his expertise in portions of the interview that aired at 6:30 p.m. ET on Nightly News. The extended, wide-ranging interview with Williams, his first with a U.S. television network, airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

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 Im not and even being assigned a name that was not mine, Snowden said in the interview.

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Snowden described himself as a technical expert who has worked for the United States at high levels, including as a lecturer in a counterintelligence academy for the Defense Intelligence Agency and undercover work for the CIA and National Security Agency.

But I am a technical specialist. I am a technical expert, he said. I dont work with people. I dont recruit agents. What I do is I put systems to work for the United States. And Ive done that at all levels from from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top.

Last year, when Snowden began leaking details of NSA spying programs and left the country, administration officials played down his work history, using descriptions such as systems administrator to describe his role at the agency. In June, President Barack Obama himself told reporters: No, Im not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker.

Snowden told Williams that those terms were misleading.

In the Defense Intelligence Agency job, Snowden said, he developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world.

So when they say Im a low-level systems administrator, that I dont know what Im talking about, Id say its somewhat misleading, he said.

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EXCLUSIVE: Edward Snowden Rejects Obama Administration Claim He Was Low-Level Hacker

Behind the mask: Edward Snowden's revelations forced the issue of court authorisation for surveillance into the open. Photo: Reuters

United States intelligence leaker Edward Snowden said in a TV interview he "was trained as a spy" and had worked undercover overseas for US government agencies.

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

Snowden worked for Dellas a contractor to the US National Security Agency (NSA) from 2009 to earlier this year, then as acontractor for management consultancy firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

Previous reports have him working as for the CIAas a security guard from age 19 and as an undercover operator in overseas posts at 23.

"Well, it's no secret that the US 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: 'I was trained as a spy'

May 28, 2014

US fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden (pic) "trained as a spy" and worked "undercover overseas" for intelligence agencies, he told NBC News in excerpts of an interview aired yesterday.

In his first interview in US media, Snowden hit back at claims that he was merely a low-level contractor, saying he worked "at all levels from from the bottom on the ground, all the way to the top."

Snowden, who has been charged in the United States with espionage, was granted asylum by Russia in August 2013 after shaking the American intelligence establishment to its core with a series of leaks on mass surveillance in the United States and around the world.

In the interview, taped last week and to air in full today, Snowden defended himself against claims minimizing his intelligence experience before he stole and leaked a trove of classified documents revealing the NSA's program of phone and Internet surveillance.

"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," he said.

He said he had worked covertly as "a technical expert" for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, as well as as a trainer for the Defence Intelligence Agency.

"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.

"So when they 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, who left high school at 15 without graduating, made his revelations three months into his new job with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as a systems administrator based at the NSA's threat operations center in Hawaii.

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U.S. National Security Edward Snowden speaks with Brian Williams in an NBC News exclusive interview NBC News

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor behind one of the biggest leaks of classified intelligence in American history, describes his previous job as more Bond-like than reported in the past.

Its no secret that the U.S. tends to get more and better intelligence out of computers nowadays than they do out of people, Snowden said in an excerpt from a new interview with NBC News Brian Williams that will air on Wednesday. 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 Im not and even being assigned a name that was not mine.

The 30-year-old is currently living in Russia and wanted on espionage charges in the U.S. after he helped expose some of the National Security Agencys surveillance programs.

Snowden went on to say the U.S. government has tried to discredit him by downplaying the number of positions he held while working for the CIA and the NSA.

What theyre trying to do is theyre trying to use one position that Ive had in a career here or there to distract from the totality of my experience, said Snowden, who added that he worked at all levels from from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top.

So when they say Im a low-level systems administrator, that I dont know what Im talking about, Id say its somewhat misleading.

[NBC News]

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Edward Snowden Opens Up in New Interview: “I Was Trained As a Spy”