U.S. May Never Know Full Extent of Snowden's Spy Revelations, Say Officials
Keep 'em guessing
WASHINGTON — American intelligence and law enforcement investigators have concluded that they may never know the entirety of what the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden extracted from classified government computers before leaving the United States, according to senior government officials.
Investigators remain in the dark about the extent of the data breach partly because the N.S.A. facility in Hawaii where Mr. Snowden worked — unlike other N.S.A. facilities — was not equipped with up-to-date software that allows the spy agency to monitor which corners of its vast computer landscape its employees are navigating at any given time.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
my neighbor's sister-in-law makes 61 USD/hour on the internet. She has been laid off for eight months but last month her pay check was 19482 USD just working on the internet for a few hours. why not find out more
===========================
http://www.fb49.com
===========================
I went back and forth internally with Snowden, Traitor or hero.
Caveat-I am an ex military guy that is not a fan of men who commit treason against their own country.
On one hand maybe the NSA did need to be exposed. As our government is becoming more intrusive and seems destined on the path of Marxism and collapse I write about in fiction and nonfiction.
Here is where Snowden lost me. He went to work for our enemy. I'm sorry but Putin remains our enemy. Don't get me wrong, I like the Russian people and have met many in overseas travel. But the government remains on the opposite spectrum of freedom.
But if you're going to commit a breach of security in the name of Patriotism then don't walk across the street to work for our old and possibly future foe. And I highly doubt his employment there is purely private industry.
Would I have stayed and faced trial here and denounced them to their faces? I don't know. But I wouldn't aide the other side in exchange of asylum.
Maybe he didn't commit treason by exposing our NSA. He sure as hell might be now.
Charles Hurst. Author of THE SECOND FALL. An offbeat story of Armageddon. And creator of THE RUNNINGWOLF EZINE.
He didn't commit treason. It's a very specific charge defined solely by the Constitution, and is very specific about the requirements. He doesn't even come close to meeting the requirements, and living in Russia isn't the same thing as "working for Putin", you peabrained idiot.
Is it a coloring book?
I'm sure Snowden would have loved to live in a great many more friendly countries, but those countries weren't friendly to him.
The guy gave up his life here to expose what was going on. Should he volunteer to spend life in prison? Should he blow his brains out?
The government did what it could to limit his options, and now they're going to complain that he took one?
He didn't go to work for our enemy. He went to Hong Kong. We chased him from there. He's been trying to leave Russia, but we keep blocking his path. So, I'm sorry Snowden lost you, but that's your fault, not his.
If we are going to so broaden the definition of treason, then it seems to me that the NSA and people like you are the ones who have committed it.
Their real fear of course is if the public does learn it all.