Snowden caught on camera: No state has basis to limit my asylum

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says he wants temporary political asylum in Russia, and promised to stop releasing leaks that harm Washington to secure it. He told Russian and international human rights activists of his wishes at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he's been stuck in a transit area for more than two weeks.

BREAKING : Snowden asks Russia for Asylum

NSA leaker & former CIA employee Edward Snowden has asked for political asylum in Russia, saying he could not fly to Latin America, according to Human Rights Watch representative who met the whistleblower. Thirteen Russian and international human rights advocates and lawyers have gathered at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport for a meeting with Snowden

Snowden Human Rights Meeting a Hint at Next Move?

Moscow bureau chief Greg White explains what Edward Snowden's planned meeting with human rights groups might mean for the future of the NSA whistleblower. Photo: AP

Snowden "Considering Venezuela Asylum"

American journalist Glenn Greenwald says he believes former spy contractor Edward Snowden will soon seek refuge in Venezuela.

Full Story:

Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who first published top-secret information on U.S. surveillance programmes using data leaked by former spy contractor Edward Snowden.

Speaking from his home in Rio de Janeiro, The Guardian blogger and columnist said he had spoken to Snowden about the fugitive's asylum plans via an encrypted online chat on Tuesday.

[Glenn Greenwald, American Journalist]:
"There are news reports today that he has formally accepted the asylum offer from Venezuela. Whether those news reports are accurate or not, I don't want to comment on but, I think personally, just speaking for myself, that of the three options, that one seems like the more plausible."

Snowden, seen here speaking to The Guardian Newspaper, is wanted by the United States on espionage charges.

He is believed to be holed up in the transit terminal of Moscow's main airport, where he has been stuck for weeks after the U.S. voided his passport and threatened consequences for any country that offered the American refuge.

Greenwald says conversations with the wanted man have led him to believe Snowden's trove of National Security Agency documents are not in the hands of foreign governments.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's foreign minister said the contractor had not officially accepted his country's offer of asylum, as of Tuesday.

Edward Snowden on Why He Stood Up to the NSA: Mass Spying "Not Something I'm Willing to Live Under"

In a newly released interview conducted just before he came forward early last month, Edward Snowden explains why he has devoted his life to expose how the United States is spying on the world. Snowden says he thinks the biggest revelation to emerge from his leaks is the National Security Agency's collection of all communications into and out of the United States -- despite NSA claims that it only targets foreign traffic. Snowden also predicts that the U.S. government would seek to demonize him and accuse him of aiding America's enemies. Journalist Laura Poitras filmed the exchange, and Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald asked the questions. "America is a fundamentally good country," Snowden says. "We have good people with good values who want to do the right thing, but the structures of power that exist are working to their own ends to extend their capability at the expense of the freedoms of all."

US Spying Scandal & National Security

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old system administrator and former undercover CIA employee, has revealed himself as the source behind the biggest intelligence leaks in the National Security Agency (NSA)'s history. Snowden admitted his role in the leaks in a 12-minute video interview recorded in Hong Kong where he is currently staying, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

The British newspaper said Snowden flew to Hong Kong on May 20 after copying the last set of documents he intended to disclose at the NSA's office in Hawaii. The paper pointed out that it was revealing Snowden's identity at his own request. In the interview, he denounced what he described as systematic surveillance of innocent US citizens, saying his " sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."

Is The Five Eyes Alliance watching you?

Edward Snowden's whistleblowing has revealed the secret snooping conducted by the NSA, GCHQ and other western intelligence agencies. But this sort of signal intelligence sharing goes back way further than you might think - Truthloader looked into The Five Eyes Alliance (the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and another secret project named ECHELON.

WikiLeaks Blasts U.S. for Leaving Snowden "Stateless" as NSA Leaker Withdraws Asylum Bid in Russia

National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has reportedly abandoned his effort to permanently stay in Russia, but has submitted asylum requests to 20 other countries. His decision comes one day after President Vladimir Putin said Snowden could only seek asylum in Russia if he stopped leaking U.S. secrets. When Snowden arrived in Russia last week, it was initially believed he was on his way to Ecuador, but that prospect is now in doubt. For more, we're joined by Kristinn Hrafnsson, spokesperson for WikiLeaks, which is assisting Snowden in his attempt to seek political asylum. Hrafnsson is a longtime investigative reporter who was named Icelandic journalist of the year three times.

Obama on What's Going On With Edward Snowden

7/1/13 - Barack Obama on What's Going On With Edward Snowden: US president Barack Obama implies that European countries could be spying on the US, saying there are plenty of European leaders who want to know what he is thinking, during a press conference in Tanzania.

Putin : Edward Snowden Must Quit Leaking Secrets

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russia should protect Edward Snowden, the fugitive U.S. leaker stranded in a Moscow airport without a passport, and offer him asylum if he asks for it, said the head of President Vladimir Putin's human rights council. Bloomberg Contributing Editor Richard Falkenrath reports on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers." (Source: Bloomberg)

BREAKING NEWS - NSA Whisleblower Snowden Seeks Asylum in Russia!

Fox news reports...http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/...
 Edward Snowden reportedly is seeking asylum in Russia, as the NSA leaker faces diminishing options for getting out of the Moscow airport where he is believed to be staying.
The Interfax news agency cited Kim Shevchenko, the duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular office in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, as saying that Snowden's representative, Sarah Harrison, handed over his request for political asylum on Sunday.
The confirmation, though, comes after Russia's President Vladimir Putin publicly issued a condition for any asylum request from Snowden -- he must stop leaking America's secrets.

URGENT - Is NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden A Double Agent?? You Decide!!

Donald Trump, a man who has previously and may once again tout himself as a presidential candidate, believes that the American justice system is too slow and cumbersome to deal with whistleblowers like former NSA analyst Edward Snowden.

Labeling Snowden a "spy", Trump went on Fox News to advocate his immediate "execution".

In a vomit inducing interview with Fox and Friends, Trump, in his infinite wisdom, stated:

"You know, spies in the old days used to be executed."

Edward Snowden left Russia for Cuba ??

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg News' Phil Mattingly and Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass discuss the whereabouts of NSA leaker Edward Snowden as he was checked-in, but not on, a flight that was supposed to take him to Cuba. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance."

Snowden Still in Russia, where is he going next?

Edward Snowden is on the run. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he believes Snowden is still in Russia after fleeing Hong Kong on Sunday. Where will the man who leaked NSA secrets go next? RT Correspondent Liz Wahl takes a look at where he's been and where he could be going.

Sarah Palin: Edward Snowden Is Not The Problem - 6/21/13

"He was asking for these unanswered questions about domestic use of drones and the impact on the American public. [...] Of course he was chided and mocked and ridiculed by the Obama administration, [...] but Rand Paul was right. He was asking the questions and now finally we're getting the answers that yes, drones are used on American soil," Sarah Palin said Saturday on FOX News about Edward Snowden.

"Only in an Orwellian government would a collective bad deed be so generously rewarded. It is a shame and it's just more reason to distrust our federal government and the nonsense that's going on in Washington, D.C.," Palin said about the IRS.

"Is a bear Catholic, does the pope live in the woods? No. I do not trust our federal government," Palin also said.

Edward Snowden: Where in the World Is NSA Leaker?

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. lashed out at Russia for letting former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden transit through Moscow as Ecuador considered his bid for asylum. Phil Mattingly reports on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg)

Donald Trump wants Edward Snowden Executed !!

Donald Trump Attacks 'Terrible' Edward Snowden On Fox: 'There Is Still A Thing Called Execution'

June 24, 2013 - Donald Trump made his Monday morning call to Fox & Friends, this time to remind us that, in the good old days, spies used to be executed. The ordeal surrounding NSA leaker Edward Snowden is embarrassing and illustrates that we've become a "very different nation," he asserted. (With a requisite quip about how President Obama's own records haven't been leaked.)

Repeatedly, Trump told viewers that Snowden is simply a "terribly guy" — and our inability to get him back shows how weak the U.S. has been.

"Spies in the old days used to be executed," Trump noted. "Now nobody knows where he is. But we have to get him back, and we have to get him back fast. They're talking about it could take years, it could take months, but maybe years. That would be pathetic."

Meanwhile, Russia's likely getting tons of information out of him, he argued. Eventually Trump circled back to a point he made at the beginning of the segment.

"This guy is a bad guy," he reasserted. "And you know, there is still a thing called execution. You have to take a strong hand. You have thousands of people with access to the kind of material like this. We're not going to have a country any longer."

Welp: not going to have a country any longer.

WATCH: This Car Could've given Edward Snowden A Ride on Seeking Asylum in Ecuador

Moscow (CNN) -- The computer contractor who exposed details of U.S. surveillance programs was on the run late Sunday, seeking asylum in Ecuador with the aid of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, the organization and Ecuador's Foreign Ministry announced.
Edward Snowden left Hong Kong after Washington sought his extradition on espionage charges, according to WikiLeaks, which facilitates the publication of classified information.
"He is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from WikiLeaks," the group said. Ecuador's foreign ministry said it had received a request for asylum from Snowden, and a CNN crew spotted a car with diplomatic plates and an Ecuadorian flag at the Russian capital's international airport.
Ecuador has already given WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange refuge in its embassy in London for a year after he unsuccessfully fought extradition to Sweden in British courts.
In Washington, the response was swift. The Obama administration asked Ecuador, Cuba and Venezuela, not to admit Snowden or to expel him if they do, a senior Obama administration official told CNN on Sunday. It also urged countries through which he might pass not to accept him.
The Justice Department said it was "disappointed" in the decision by Hong Kong authorities to allow Snowden to leave the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, arguing it had followed the proper legal steps to have him held and sent back to the United States. U.S. and Hong Kong officials had "repeated engagements" over the case, and Attorney General Eric Holder discussed the matter with his counterpart in Hong Kong last week, the department said.
"At no point, in all of our discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the U.S.'s provisional arrest request," a statement from the department said. "In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling."
And a source familiar with the matter told CNN that the U.S. government has revoked Snowden's passport.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was routine to revoke the passports of people charged with felonies. She would not comment specifically on the status of Snowden's passport but said anyone wanted on a felony charge, "such as Mr. Snowden," should be stopped from "any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States."
Among those accompanying Snowden is former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, now the lawyer for WikiLeaks and Assange, according to a statement from the organization.
"The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr. Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person," Garzon said. "What is being done to Mr. Snowden and to Mr. Julian Assange -- for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest -- is an assault against the people."
Assange sought asylum in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another. He has repeatedly said the allegations are politically motivated and that he fears Sweden would transfer him to the United States.
There are no charges pending against Assange in the United States. But a U.S. Army private who military prosecutors say leaked a vast cache of classified documents to WikiLeaks is now being court-martialed on charges of aiding the enemy, and he faces life in prison if convicted.
Snowden has admitted he was the source who leaked classified documents about the NSA's surveillance programs to the British newspaper the Guardian and to The Washington Post. The documents revealed the existence of programs that collect records of domestic telephone calls in the United States and monitor the Internet activity of overseas residents.

NSA Chief Can't Explain How Snowden Slipped Through Cracks: 'Clearly The System Did Not Work'

6/23/13 - National Security Agency Chief Keith Alexander appeared on ABC's This Week Sunday morning to denounce Moscow-bound Edward Snowden, but was unable to explain how internal security measures failed to prevent Snowden from making off with so much classified material. "This is an individual who is not acting, in my opinion, with noble intent," Alexander said of the leaker. "What Snowden has revealed has caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and allies."

Host George Stephanopoulos asked Alexander if the government knew how Snowden was able to leave Hawaii with the materials he'd taken.

"Clearly the system did not work as it should have," Alexander said. "This is an individual with top secret clearance whose duty it was to administer these networks. He betrayed that confidence and stole some of our secrets. We are now putting in place actions that would give us the ability to track our system administrators, what they're doing, what they're taking, a two-man rule. We've changed the passwords. But at the end of the day, we have to trust that our people are going to do the right thing. This is an extremely important mission defending our country."

"We have interest in those who collect on us as an intelligence agency. But to say that we're willfully just collecting all sorts of data would give you the impression that we're just trying to canvas the whole world. The fact is what we're trying to do is get the information our nation needs, the foreign intelligence, that primary mission, in this case and the case that Snowden has brought up is in defending this nation from a terrorist attack."

"Are you confident that we have not broken the laws of Hong Kong?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"I'm confident that we're following the laws that our country has," Alexander said. "We have a set of laws that guide how NSA acts; we follow those laws."

Overall, Alexander defended the phone metadata program as entirely within the bounds of law, citing 300 instances in which phone data had been grabbed for fifty cases, ten of which involved a person in the U.S. (like Najibullah Aziz), but that the NSA had never listened in on the phone call of an American citizen.

"We have not, in a single case, had a place where a government official engaged in a willful effort to circumvent or violate the law," Alexander affirmed. "Zero times have we done that."

"We've got to move this debate from a political debate to a debate on national security, because that's what we're talking about and the security of this country."

BREAKING : Edward Snowden asks Ecuador for Asylum ?

Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Russia asks Ecuador for Asylum Snowden left for Third Country


 Edward Snowden leaves for third country : leaves Hong Kong for Russia or Cuba, NSA whistleblower Snowden flies out of Hong Kong

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about US snooping, has left Hong Kong for Russia.

His departure was revealed on the website of the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post, which said that Russia was not thought to be his intended final destination.

His departure has now been confirmed by the Hong Kong government.

It was thought that the eventual destination could end up being Iceland or Ecuador, but Russia's Interfax news agency says he may be heading to Cuba.

Interfax are saying that there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Cuba.

He is understood to have left Hong Kong on the Russian airline Aeroflot flight SU213 to Moscow.

The paper said it left Hong Kong around 11am local time (4am UK time) and was due to arrive in Moscow around 5.15pm local time (1pm UK time). It is believed to be currently in the air.

The twitter feed of the Wikileaks whistleblowers' website said Snowden is currently over Russian airspace and is being accompanied by its legal advisers.

Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him, after he was charged in the US with espionage.

The website of the South China Morning Post said: "US whistleblower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, credible sources have confirmed to the South China Morning Post.

"Moscow will not be his final destination."

WikiLeaks, which has published previous revelations about activities by America's security services, said it had helped Snowden secure political asylum in a "democratic country".

A twitter post said: "WikiLeaks has assisted Mr Snowden's political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong."

The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements.

Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.

Snowden told the Guardian the National Security Agency has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

The Russian President's office said it has not been given any information about Mr Snowden's imminent arrival.