Post reporter Barton Gellman discusses how his exclusive interview with Edward Snowden came about and whether the former NSA contractor would ever want to return to the United States. (Jeff Simon\/The Washington Post) <\/p>\n
MOSCOW The familiar voice on the hotel room phone did not waste words. <\/p>\n
What time does your clock say, exactly? he asked. <\/p>\n
He checked the reply against his watch and described a place to meet. <\/p>\n
Ill see you there, he said. <\/p>\n
Edward Joseph Snowden emerged at the appointed hour, alone, blending into a light crowd of locals and tourists. He cocked his arm for a handshake, then turned his shoulder to indicate a path. Before long he had guided his visitor to a secure space out of public view. <\/p>\n
During more than 14 hours of interviews, the first he has conducted in person since arriving here in June, Snowden did not part the curtains or step outside. Russia granted him temporary asylum on Aug.1, but Snowden remains a target of surpassing interest to the intelligence services whose secrets he spilled on an epic scale. <\/p>\n
Late this spring, Snowden supplied three journalists, including this one, with caches of top-secret documents from the National Security Agency, where he worked as a contractor. Dozens of revelations followed, and then hundreds, as news organizations around the world picked up the story. Congress pressed for explanations, new evidence revived old lawsuits and the Obama administration was obliged to declassify thousands of pages it had fought for years to conceal. <\/p>\n
Taken together, the revelations have brought to light a global surveillance system that cast off many of its historical restraints after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Secret legal authorities empowered the NSA to sweep in the telephone, Internet and location records of whole populations. One of the leaked presentation slides described the agencys collection philosophy as Order one of everything off the menu. <\/p>\n
Six months after the first revelations appeared in The Washington Post and Britains Guardian newspaper, Snowden agreed to reflect at length on the roots and repercussions of his choice. He was relaxed and animated over two days of nearly unbroken conversation, fueled by burgers, pasta, ice cream and Russian pastry. <\/p>\n
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