Culture

Edward Snowden Fires Back After Congress Calls Him A Liar Who Had ‘Contact With Russian Intelligence’

A new House Intelligence report tears into Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked top-secret documents about American surveillance operations to The Guardian and other outlets. The report contains many redacted sections but essentially seeks to strip away the “whistleblower” label. The House accuses him of being a “serial exaggerator and fabricator” and a general pain in the ass who constantly sparred with his bosses. In response, Snowden went on a rip-roaring rant, which oddly paused for the above photo of KFC time with his girlfriend.

The document pulls no cyberpunches over Snowden’s disclosures, which are painted as the work of a disgruntled employee who was upset about not receiving a promotion. Further, Congress accuses Snowden — who has found asylum in Moscow for the past three years — of aiding Russia. On page 20, the report states that Snowden has been in constant “contact with Russian intelligence services” since his arrival. One of the bold-faced “highlight page” sections stresses the damage that was done:

Snowden’s disclosures did tremendous damage to U.S. national security, and the Committee remains concerned that more than three years after the start of the unauthorized disclosures, NSA, and the IC as a whole, have not done enough to minimize the risk of another massive unauthorized disclosure.

In response to the entire report, Snowden went on a tweetstorm. Naturally, he seems most concerned about the Russia-related accusations and wants to know why the report never mentions his well-documented criticism of Vladimir Putin. Here’s a big chunk of the rest of the rant:

He points to how the Russia-contact claim is partially based upon the word of “a Russian guy who just this week claimed NATO assassinated Russia’s Ambassador. Not kidding.” And he runs through more claims.

Snowden admits that he wasn’t the easiest person to work with but also stresses that technologists in general can be abrasive. However, he laments that Congress is pulling a “misguided war on whistleblowers.” And he mentions how, ironically, the report illustrates how he purged disks rather than bring them into Russia: “Glad that’s settled.”

(Via House.gov)