By Walter Pincus June 2 <\/p>\n
Edward Snowden may have created a paper trail that he could later use to say he brought his questioning of National Security Agency activities to higher authorities. <\/p>\n
That at least appears to be the case from the short April 5, 2013, e-mail the then-contractor sent to the NSA general counsels office inquiring about the hierarchy of legal authorities executive orders vs. statutes after a mandatory NSA training session. <\/p>\n
Government officials released the e-mail Thursday. <\/p>\n
Snowdens missive offered no criticism. The general counsels answer, three days later, said that executive orders have the force of law but cannot override a statute. Snowden was invited to call if he wanted to discuss the issue further. <\/p>\n
He didnt, apparently. <\/p>\n
At an April 18, 2013, meeting with then-Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald, filmmaker Laura Poitras described e-mails shed received weeks before from Snowden (who was not disclosing his identity at the time) saying he would be providing documents to her within four to six weeks, according to Greenwalds book, No Place to Hide. <\/p>\n
Snowden claimed during an NBC interview with Brian Williams on Wednesday that hed tried to be a whistleblower and had complained through official channels before turning to journalists. <\/p>\n
He said there were e-mails to the general counsel and oversight and compliance folks and added, I reported that there were real problems with the way the NSA was interpreting its legal authorities. And the response more or less in bureaucratic language was you should stop asking questions. <\/p>\n
In response, the government released the April 5 e-mail. <\/p>\n
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