Edward Snowden

[[File:Edward_Snowden-2.jpg|thumb|portrait|165px|Snowden in 2013]]
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{{cquote|Saying that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.||| Edward Snowden}}
'''Edward Joseph Snowden''' (Эдвард Джозеф Сноуден<ref>[https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2249388 Секреторазноситель] (08/12/2013, 00:00) ''Kommersant Power''.</ref>) {{lived|1983}} is a former [[NSA|US National Security Agency]]  (NSA) contractor and [[CIA|Central Intelligence Agency]] employee. He was born in [[North Carolina]] and lived in [[Hawaii]] in the [[United States]]. In 2022, [[Vladimir Putin]] granted him [[Russian]] citizenship.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/26/putin-snowden-citizenship-russia/ Putin grants citizenship to Edward Snowden, who disclosed U.S. surveillance] by Mary Ilyushina (September 26, 2022 at 12:47 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> He is best known for exposing many of the NSA and [[UK]] {{wpl|Government Communications Headquarters||'}} ([[GCHQ]]) spying activities conducted on ordinary civilians under the guise of hunting down [[Terrorism|terrorists]]. While working at Booz Allen Hamilton, an NSA contractor, he secretly took many thousands of classified documents concerning the NSA's illegal and unconstitutional activities, nearly 99% of which are yet to be revealed to the general public.

These activities involved unlawfully spying on ordinary civilians both inside and outside the United States and the United Kingdom; compromising the security of the Internet by means of weakening [[encryption]]; tapping global fiber optic networks; and bribing large corporations (such as [[Google]], [[Yahoo]], [[Microsoft]], [[Facebook]], AT&T, Skype, and Verizon) for information; and authorizing these programs through a secret and undemocratic court (FISA) that was inaccessible to the general public. Google, Apple, and other companies denied any knowledge of the PRISM program and their participation in it,<ref>[http://theweek.com/article/index/245391/is-the-nsa-prism-leak-much-less-than-it-seems Is the NSA PRISM leak much less than it seems?] by Peter Weber (June 10, 2013) ''The Week''.</ref> after which ''The Washington Post'' quickly and quietly revised its article on the subject.<ref>[http://thedailybanter.com/2013/06/nsa-story-falling-apart-under-scrutiny-key-facts-turning-out-to-be-inaccurate/?utm NSA Bombshell Story Falling Apart Under Scrutiny; Key Facts Turning Out to Be Inaccurate] by Bob Cesca (Jun 8, 2013) ''The Daily Banter''.</ref>

He left Hawaii for [[Hong Kong]] on May 20, 2013, leaving his US$120,000 job, home, family, and girlfriend behind, and met journalists [[Glenn Greenwald]] and {{wpl|Laura Poitras||,}} sharing his trove of documents with them. Greenwald and Poitras began to publish the information in ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''Der Spiegel'', respectively, on June 5. Even the initial information, unsurprisingly, sparked national and international outrage directed at the spying agencies. Information is still being revealed and published as of March 2014.

After fleeing from a country that spies on its citizens Snowden was given temporary asylum in [[Russia]], a country that also spies on its citizens and where he currently resides, on July 1, after having been stuck at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for 39 days. He claimed that he intended only to transit at Moscow and to continue to Ecuador or [[Venezuela]], with a layover in [[Cuba]].<ref>[https://www.rt.com/news/snowden-fly-moscow-aeroflot-125/  Snowden stops over in Moscow en route to 'third country' with WikiLeaks help (Published time: 23 Jun, 2013 07:47, Edited time: 25 Jun, 2013 10:49) ''[[RT]]''.</ref><ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/edward-snowden-lands-in-moscow-likely-bound-for-ecuador/ Edward Snowden lands in Moscow, likely bound for Ecuador] (June 23, 2013, 7:12 PM, Updated 6:53 p.m. ET) ''CBS News''.</ref> However, US officials have stated that his passport was revoked due to felony charges against him while he was still in Hong Kong, and that he was only able to travel to Moscow because Russia provided him with special travel documents that were personally authorized by Putin.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/snowden-departs-hong-kong-for-a-third-country-government-says/2013/06/23/08e9eff2-dbde-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html?utm_term=.18282b766e5a Edward Snowden flees Hong Kong for Moscow, asks Ecuador to grant him asylum] by Kathy Lally et al. (June 24, 2013) ''Washington Post''.</ref><ref name=epstein>[http://www.newsweek.com/why-obama-wont-pardon-edward-snowden-nsa-538632 Why President Obama Can't Pardon Edward Snowden] by Edward Jay Epstein (1/5/17 at 7:00 AM) ''Newsweek''.</ref> It has also been revealed that [[Julian Assange]], who has been portrayed as a Russian tool, helped Snowden escape by laying a smokescreen of decoy flight purchases for Snowden in Hong Kong.<ref name=epstein/>

He has been commended for his actions by many supporters of privacy and security around the world, being called a [[whistleblower]] and a hero. In August 2013, he was presented with the [[German]] "Whistleblower Prize", for "bold efforts to expose the massive and unsuspecting monitoring and storage of communication data, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies", and in December 2013, he was given the {{wpl|Sam Adams Award}} for his actions to protect the people of the United States and elsewhere.

==Problems with Snowden's story==
Besides how he got to Moscow, other aspects of Snowden's story don't add up. More importantly, Snowden's own version of the story is the one that most people are familiar with.<ref name=epstein/>
*In 2015, he claimed to have evaluated every document that was released but admitted that he had not read every one.<ref name=kelley>[http://www.businessinsider.com/snowden-and-john-oliver-2015-4 John Oliver just exposed a very big lie surrounding Edward Snowden] by Michael B Kelley (Apr. 6, 2015, 1:00 PM 96,705) ''Business Insider''.</ref> This shows either extreme naiveté or a callous disregard for unintended consequences.
*In 2013, ''The New York Times'' reported<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/world/snowden-says-he-took-no-secret-files-to-russia.html?pagewanted=all&mtrref=www.businessinsider.com&gwh=72FFA1600EB57AA2D4D897DAF367E986&gwt=pay Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia] by James Risen (Oct. 17, 2013) ''New York Times''.</ref> that Snowden claimed he gave all of the classified documents that he had to the journalists he met in Hong Kong, though an [[ACLU]] adviser for Snowden later told ''Business Insider'' that this story was inaccurate.<ref name=kelley/>
*In 2014, he told NBC that he destroyed all documents in his possession while he was in Hong Kong.<ref name=kelley/>
*In 2016, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence revealed that Snowden had removed 1.5 million documents from NSA and that he had only given a small fraction of this to journalists.<ref name=epstein/>
*NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett stated that Snowden removed the so-called "keys to the kingdom", which included "all requests to the NSA by U.S. intelligence agencies to fill the gaps in their coverage of Russia and other adversary nations".
*Snowden specifically sought a job with NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii because that was the only contractor and location that had access to the deepest ("Level 3") levels of NSA security.<ref name=epstein/> Because of this, "the keys, sources and methods that, among other things, allowed the U.S. to see and counter aggressive moves, including cyberattacks, by adversaries were compromised."<ref name=epstein/> It is conceivable that Snowden, intentionally or not, enabled Russia to more effectively hack the [[Democratic Party|Democratic National Committee]] during [[2016 U.S. presidential election]] and tilted it to [[Donald Trump|Trump]]'s favor.

==Conspiracies==
{{main|Conspiracy theory}}
*He was allowed to give the information. The "Evidence" for this is that he had to [[Non sequitur|get past "all the firewalls and security codes in an afternoon".]]<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3m30Wld2_M Edward Snowden A Pawn in the CIA/NSA Intelligence War with Jon Rappoport] (Jul 6, 2013) TheLipTV (YouTube).</ref>

*He's part of the [[Illuminati]], though this one is to be expected. Everyone is.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxFMsQ5k8AQ Edward Snowden is Illuminati] by Jonas Neukirch (Nov 24, 2015) YouTube.</ref>

*[[Alex Jones]] (who else?) somehow found a way to shoehorn Snowden into the [[Moon landing hoax|Moon Landing Conspiracy Theory]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71R9y9Kqo7s ALEX JONES: ILLUMINATI, FAKE MOON LANDINGS & EDWARD SNOWDEN] by bigeyenews (Jul 3, 2013) YouTube</ref>

*[[Mark Dice]] and friends suspect that the NSA is able to do more than Edward said, such as listen to full phone calls.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcrtgY6ONB0 Edward Snowden's BIGGEST BIG BROTHER BOMBSHELL] by Mark Dice (Jan 5, 2014) YouTube</ref> Unfortunately, [[Stopped clock|this one is plausible]], considering the NSA's track record.

*That Edward was suggesting we go all Revolutionary War on their @$$.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kalibVzFs10 Edward Snowden Tribute - USSA - House Track] (Nov 30, 2013) Radio Illuminati (YouTube)</ref>

*He's conspiring with Barack Obama and [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw6FjD9oceM Edward Snowden, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela… Illuminati??] (Aug 11, 2013) GlobalDeceipt.com (YouTube)</ref>

*[[HAARP]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130719211941/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM3g2tdfays Edward Snowden Releases HAARP Mind Control Machine Documents?] by Mark Dice (Jul 18, 2013) YouTube</ref>

*One word: [[Extraterrestrial|ALIENS]]!!!<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z3KqbApFzQ My Views on the Illuminati. Prism and Edward Snowden (Random Rant)] by Mrcheekymonkey1996 (Jul 15, 2013) YouTube</ref>

*He's a double agent for Russia.<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/CIA-NSA-Snowden-Rustmann/2014/07/10/id/581887/ Ex-CIA Officer Fred Rustmann: Snowden Was a Double Agent] by Melissa Clyne (Thursday, 10 Jul 2014 11:55 AM) ''Newsmax''.</ref> Although Putin certainly doesn't care about Snowden and signaled that he'd use Snowden as a "gift" to Trump,<ref>http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russia-eyes-sending-snowden-u-s-gift-trump-official-n718921</ref> this didn’t happen.

*There are no "11 days missing in Hong Kong" (HK), by which Snowden only checked in the Mira Hotel 11 days after he fled the US to HK for the leaks. He fled on the 20<sup>th</sup> of May and checked in another hotel, then the next day changed to the Mira.<ref>[[Glenn Greenwald]]: "[https://theintercept.com/2017/03/21/newly-obtained-documents-prove-key-claim-of-snowdens-accusers-is-a-fraud/ Newly Obtained Documents Prove: Key Claim of Snowden’s Accusers Is a Fraud]", ''The Intercept''.</ref>

==Closure of Archive Research==
On the 13th of May 2019, the Intercept announced that it was closing its research team into the archives. Edward Snowden did not hear about this until a day later when he was contacted by the journalist Barrett Brown. Glenn Greenwald explained on Twitter that he was looking for an academic partner to share the archive with rather than another news outlet, as he believed that the archive can no longer be considered newsworthy. Over 90% of the archive remains unpublished.<ref>Ruairi Wood: [https://amityunderground.com/why-have-the-intercept-stopped-publishing-the-edward-snowden-global-surveillance-archives-barrett-brown-glenn-greenwald-laura-poitras/ As the famous ‘Snowden outlet’, why has The Intercept stopped publishing the Snowden NSA Archives?.], Amity Underground</ref>

==Trivia==
During an interview that [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]] landed with Snowden, he asked Snowden whether alien civilizations might use encryption and Snowden felt they could be, making it nearly impossible for humans to pick up evidence of their communications via satellites.<ref>[http://www.techinsider.io/edward-snowden-talks-alien-communication-with-neil-degrasse-tyson-2015-9 Edward Snowden has a really good theory as to why we've never heard from aliens] by Kelly Dickerson (Sep. 18, 2015, 7:00 PM) ''Business Insider''.</ref> During a second interview, deGrasse Tyson asked Snowden why he's not on [[Twitter]] and suggested the handle "@Snowden." A few days later, Edward Snowden joined Twitter with the handle @Snowden.<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2015/09/29/edward-snowden-twitter-snowden/ Edward Snowden Is On Twitter: @Snowden] by Dan Froomkin (September 29 2015, 9:02 a.m.) ''The Intercept''.</ref> In his second tweet ever, the wanted man playfully asked deGrasse Tyson: "Thanks for the welcome. And now we've got water on Mars! Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend."<ref>[https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/648899559507271680?lang=en @neiltyson Thanks for the welcome. And now we've got water on Mars! Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend] (7:38 PM - 29 Sep 2015) Twitter</ref>

Back in the 2012 election, Snowden supported [[Libertarian Party|libertarian]] presidential candidate [[Ron Paul]].<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/edward-snowden-ron-paul_n_3414992.html Edward Snowden Is A Ron Paul Supporter] by Amanda Terkel (06/10/2013 09:46 am ET | Updated Jun 11, 2013) ''The Huffington Post''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Julian Assange]], founder of [[WikiLeaks]]
*[[Chelsea Manning]], leaker of US government documents to WikiLeaks

==External Links==
*[https://theintercept.com/snowden-sidtoday/ The Snowden Archive]
*[https://twitter.com/snowden/ Twitter]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snowden, Edward}}
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Government coverups]]
[[category:Government surveillance]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ruskies]]
[[category:Whistleblowers]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Government coverups, Government surveillance, Living people, Ruskies, Whistleblowers