Does anyone still trust Edward Snowden?

[Fast Walker 52]

I don't think he's going to get an Obama pardon...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fable-of-edward-snowden-1483143143

Mr. Snowden’s narrative also includes the assertion that he was neither debriefed by nor even met with any Russian government official after he arrived in Moscow. This part of the narrative runs counter to findings of U.S. intelligence. According to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence report, Mr. Snowden, since he arrived in Moscow, “has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services.” This finding is consistent with Russian debriefing practices, as described by the ex-KGB officers with whom I spoke in Moscow

Mr. Snowden also publicly claimed in Moscow in December 2013 to have secrets in his head, including “access to every target, every active operation. Full lists of them.” Could Mr. Snowden’s Russian hosts ignore such an opportunity after Mr. Putin had authorized his exfiltration to Moscow? Mr. Snowden, with no exit options, was in the palm of their hands. Under such circumstances, as Mr. Klintsevich pointed out in his June NPR interview: “If there’s a possibility to get information, they [the Russian intelligence services] will get it.”

The transfer of state secrets from Mr. Snowden to Russia did not occur in a vacuum. The intelligence war did not end with the termination of the Cold War; it shifted to cyberspace. Even if Russia could not match the NSA’s state-of-the-art sensors, computers and productive partnerships with the cipher services of Britain, Israel, Germany and other allies, it could nullify the U.S. agency’s edge by obtaining its sources and methods from even a single contractor with access to Level 3 documents.

Russian intelligence uses a single umbrella term to cover anyone who delivers it secret intelligence. Whether a person acted out of idealistic motives, sold information for money or remained clueless of the role he or she played in the transfer of secrets—the provider of secret data is considered an “espionage source.” By any measure, it is a job description that fits Mr. Snowden.

[markpkessinger]

1. Joe McCarthy lives n/t

[kimbutgar]

2. No he is a traitor who gave Russia enough info to hack into our government via backdoor codes

[Fast Walker 52]

3. I do wonder about that, though the article doesn't mention that

[Glassunion]

7. Really?

Your evidence of this is what?

[kimbutgar]

8. He was a federal contractor and had access to government computer programs

If you know what keys to use you can give them to someone who knows what they are going. Snowden is a traitor in my opinion.

[Glassunion]

11. Give me a break...

The moment an employee, contractor, etc... goes south, all access they have to any system is squashed.

Any access to these "codes", "back doors" or "programs" you are referring to disappear if a relationship heads south.

How long was it before he ended up in Russian hands? Trust me, by that time, every connection to any code or program he had access to, was severed.

I highly doubt that "esnowden.fbi.gov" had any access privileges whatsoever.

[think]

4. And yet the ACLU, Amnesty International, and Daniel Ellsberg are all pushing for his pardon.

Some other people listed at the link support his pardon as well:

https://pardonsnowden.org/supporters

[Fast Walker 52]

9. yes, it's curious and kind of disappointing

Though it would be good to bring him back here somehow... maybe a pardon is the only way

[Rage4Bacon]

14. I think he did great work overall.

Was there a better way to let everyone know about all the illegal spying on the masses? Probably... but it's easy to armchair quarterback things in retrospect. It was obvious that using the "official" channels wasn't working... people tried that previously and it didn't turn out well for them.

[MADem]

5. We will eventually learn that Snowden was a Russian asset for YEARS.

Last edited Mon Jan 2, 2017, 05:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Since he worked in Japan, and vacationed in (surprise, surprise) HONG KONG.

Who knows where the Russian consulate is in HK? It's tucked away in a high rise building, hard to find if you don't know right where you're going...



I am convinced he was turned back then, and was rewarded for his perfidy.

Enjoy those Russian winters, Comrade Eddy.

[Greybnk48]

10. Agree n/t

[think]

12. George Soros, Michael Moore, the CEO of Twitter, the Exec Director of Human Rights Watch all favor a

pardon for Snowden.

I doubt any of them think Snowden is a double agent. Nor does Amnesty International and the ACLU.

https://pardonsnowden.org/supporters

[MADem]

17. None of those you name are my "oracles." They have some convergence with social issues that

matter to me, but I wouldn't trust a one of them around an NSA briefing.

I'll bet a lot of those endorsements are OLD, too.

[vi5]

6. Hey, if you guys loved secrecy and privacy and spying under President Obama...

..(and make no mistake with your defense of those actions, many of you clearly did), then just WAIT to see those things under President Trump!

Which is, you know....kind of what a bunch of us were warning about.

[Rage4Bacon]

13. No doubt. If presidential power worries you...

you should have thought about that before now. It's not like its some big secret that presidents change and someone you might not like will get in there. Such shortsightedness.

[Thinkingabout]

15. If it is true the Russians has not gleemed any information from Snowden

It could be they do not trust him either. Another thought, if there are those who thinks he should be pardoned then he must be responsible for the crimes in which he is charged. With the charges of espionage and theft of government files and the delivery of those files without proper permission, an admission by Snowden, then a person should not be given.

[Ready4Change]

16. Edward Snowden no longer exists.

Actually, he is still alive. But he is no longer in control of his destiny. He, and all his assets are now assets of Russia, and they have been and will continue to serve the whims of Russia.