'I participated in the most significant change in the history of American espionage - the change from the targeted surveillance of individuals to the mass surveillance of entire populations,' Snowden writes of his time at the NSA. Yet Snowden's supporters include human rights activists and privacy advocates who say he played an invaluable role in unveiling the NSA's worldwide data collection that included the phone, email and other electronic records of American citizens. 'Most of the material he stole had nothing to do with Americans' privacy, and its compromise has been of great value to America's adversaries and those who mean to do America harm.' He was the ranking Democrat on the committee at the time, and is now the chairman. 'Snowden and his defenders claim that he is a whistleblower, but he isn't,' said California Democrat Adam Schiff. government has charged Snowden with violating the Espionage Act for providing journalists with details of the NSA's top secret surveillance programs, and many in the national security community regard him as a traitor.Īuthor Interviews Edward Snowden Tells NPR: The Executive Branch 'Sort Of Hacked The Constitution'Ī 2016 report by the House intelligence committee cited more than 20 examples of which, it said, Snowden damaged national security.

Exile is an endless layover.'Īnd there's no end in sight for a man who remains deeply polarizing. 'It has now dragged on for over six years. 'We landed at Sheremetyevo for what we assumed would be a twenty-hour layover,' Snowden writes in his new book, Permanent Record. But his stay in Russia has been far longer than expected. Snowden, who had worked at the CIA as well as the National Security Agency, said he immediately turned down the offer to cooperate with Russian intelligence. Is there some information, perhaps, some small thing you could share with us?' The Russian added, 'Life for a person in your situation can be very difficult without friends who can help. government had canceled his passport while Snowden had been in the air. When Edward Snowden landed at the Moscow airport in 2013, having just divulged valuable secrets about National Security Agency surveillance programs, he was immediately stopped by Russian authorities.Ī smooth-talking Russian intelligence officer sat Snowden down in an airport lounge and informed him the U.S. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Permanent Record Author Edward Snowden

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