Putin grants citizenship to Edward Snowden, who disclosed U.S. surveillance

[cigaretteman]

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship on Monday to Edward Snowden, the former security consultant who leaked information about top-secret United States surveillance programs and is still wanted by Washington on espionage charges.

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Snowden, 39, was one of 72 foreigners granted citizens in a decree signed by Putin on Monday.
Snowed, who considers himself a whistleblower, fled the United States to avoid prosecution and has been living in Russia, which granted him an asylum in 2013.

Snowden was granted permanent residency in 2020, and his lawyers said at the time that he was applying to obtain a Russian passport without renouncing his U.S. citizenship.

Snowden’s revelations, published first in The Washington Post and The Guardian, were arguably the biggest security breach in U.S. history. The information he disclosed revealed top-secret NSA surveillance as part of a program known as PRISM and extracting a wide range of digital information.


Snowden and his lawyers did not immediately comment on the decree.
In 2017, Putin said in a documentary film made by U.S. director Oliver Stone, that he did not consider Snowden “a traitor” for leaking government secrets.
“As an ex-KGB agent, you must have hated what Snowden did with every fiber of your being,” Stone says in the clip.
“Snowden is not a traitor,” Putin replied. “He did not betray the interests of his country. Nor did he transfer any information to any other country which would have been pernicious to his own country or to his own people. The only thing Snowden does, he does publicly.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/26/putin-snowden-citizenship-russia/

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

Does this make him eligible for the front lines

 

[sober_teacher]

Sorry, I lose all respect for Snowden if he’s accepted this. Total loss of all legitimacy in my eyes.

 

[SSG T]

 

[GOHOX69]

Two douches. What's the surprise here?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Watch out for those windows Edward.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Sorry, I lose all respect for Snowden if he’s accepted this. Total loss of all legitimacy in my eyes.

Wait. You have respect for him currently?

 

[Joes Place]

Donald Trump's paperwork cannot be too far behind....

 

[alaskanseminole]

Donald Trump's paperwork cannot be too far behind....

How very Chis of you, Joe.

 

[sober_teacher]

Wait. You have respect for him currently?

Minimal. I respect that he leaked information about shady stuff our intel agencies were up to; instantly lost most of that respect when he immediately fled the country before ending up in Russia.

He did one wrong thing to expose another wrong thing.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Minimal. I respect that he leaked information about shady stuff our intel agencies were up to; instantly lost most of that respect when he immediately fled the country before ending up in Russia.

He did one wrong thing to expose another wrong thing.

He was a low-level guy with access to stuff he didn't understand. As a former NSA Intelligence Analyst, I assure you he's regarded as a traitorous POS--right up there with the Jan 6th gang.

 

[Bonerfarts]

That'll learn us for interfering with his plans.

 

[sober_teacher]

He was a low-level guy with access to stuff he didn't understand. As a former NSA Intelligence Analyst, I assure you he's regarded as a traitorous POS--right up there with the Jan 6th gang.

That he chose to flee internationally tells me a great deal about his motives. Had he stayed to face the music I think I’d feel differently about him to some extent.

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

That he chose to flee internationally tells me a great deal about his motives. Had he stayed to face the music I think I’d feel differently about him to some extent.

Plus he could have got in on one of those government sex changes we’ve all been hearing about. If they are as good as government cheese and government grape juice, they’re top notch

 

[Slappy Pappy]

They are boxing him in to prevent him from ever returning. Ironic considering how much effort Russia is putting into mass electronic surveillance of their own citizens now. Putin is KGB, who comes with the natural despising of spy turncoats. I almost guarantee you Snowden is going to be forced to work in Russia's spy agencies, probably doing the same work he protested doing in the US.

 

[lucas80]

They are boxing him in to prevent him from ever returning. Ironic considering how much effort Russia is putting into mass electronic surveillance of their own citizens now. Putin is KGB, who comes with the natural despising of spy turncoats. I almost guarantee you Snowden is going to be forced to work in Russia's spy agencies, probably doing the same work he protested doing in the US.

I wonder if the irony of his move to repressive Russia will ever sink in? Maybe when he's arrested by Putin?

 

[lucas80]

Does this make him eligible for the front lines

This was brought up rather cheekily at today's State Department briefing.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

That he chose to flee internationally tells me a great deal about his motives. Had he stayed to face the music I think I’d feel differently about him to some extent.

I am sure that would have been very comforting to him while serving life.

 

[SSG T]

He was a low-level guy with access to stuff he didn't understand. As a former NSA Intelligence Analyst, I assure you he's regarded as a traitorous POS--right up there with the Jan 6th gang.

Yep.

I've said before, if he'd have just released stuff that showed illegal activities being conducted, even classified, my only issue with him would have been that he didn't use proper procedures as a whistle-blower, which would be somewhat understandable especially if he hadn't run.

But he released everything he had, a lot of it were things that needed to be kept classified. That isn't cool, regardless of what he released that actually applied to whistle-blower status.

 

[SSG T]

View embedded media

Re-reading this, I just happened to think...

For any Trumpers out there pushing the Russian talking points, this would be a good way to get a deployment under your belts with that wonderful military you guys were drooling over a year or so ago with those great ads the RW talking heads were sharing. You know, the ones that people were saying "See, this is what a real military looks like, not a woke one like ours"

That same military currently getting their a**es handed to them in Ukraine. So, go for it, Vlad would love the help.

 

[BioHawk]

That he chose to flee internationally tells me a great deal about his motives. Had he stayed to face the music I think I’d feel differently about him to some extent.

This was always the telling thing.

 

[sober_teacher]

I am sure that would have been very comforting to him while serving life.

Well, he DID break the law. That whole “two wrongs don’t make a right” thing.

 

[dgordo]

 

[seminole97]

I wonder if the irony of his move to repressive Russia will ever sink in? Maybe when he's arrested by Putin?

The irony is that the U.S. revoked his passport while he was transiting Russia to another destination.
They trapped him in Russia to smear him more readily with gullible people.
But that has never sunk in with people like you.

 

[LBoogie28]

The irony is that the U.S. revoked his passport while he was transiting Russia to another destination.
They trapped him in Russia to smear him more readily with gullible people.
But that has never sunk in with people like you.

View embedded media

What’s the irony here? Sounds more comical than anything.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I almost guarantee you Snowden is going to be forced to work in Russia's spy agencies, probably doing the same work he protested doing in the US.

It's not like he was some "super spy" or top network analyst. The lying POS literally took a contractor gig with Booz Allen to gather evidence on NSA surveillance programs. He had an agenda and didn't go to work for NSA with an objective frame of mind. He looked for "evidence" to support his preconceived notions. He's a traitor to the U.S. plain and simple.

Deciphering How Edward Snowden Breached the NSA [8 Years Later] | Venafi

Facing the most advanced digital intelligence service in the world, how did one young guy manage to steal so much? Venafi revisits Snowden, 8 years later.

www.venafi.com

Ex-NSA Chief Details Snowden's Hiring at Agency, Booz Allen

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked information about the agency's surveillance program, targeted Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. for employment because of its access to national security contracts, a company vice chairman said Tuesday.

www.wsj.com

 

[seminole97]

What’s the irony here? Sounds more comical than anything.

Yes. Irony.
a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Yep.

I've said before, if he'd have just released stuff that showed illegal activities being conducted, even classified, my only issue with him would have been that he didn't use proper procedures as a whistle-blower, which would be somewhat understandable especially if he hadn't run.

But he released everything he had, a lot of it were things that needed to be kept classified. That isn't cool, regardless of what he released that actually applied to whistle-blower status.

I have the same beef with him. We’ll stated

 

[seminole97]

He looked for "evidence" to support his preconceived notions. He's a traitor to the U.S. plain and simple.

So the NSA isn't actually spying on everyone, including Americans?
Because Clapper already did the mea culpa for lying to Congress about it.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Yep.

I've said before, if he'd have just released stuff that showed illegal activities being conducted, even classified, my only issue with him would have been that he didn't use proper procedures as a whistle-blower, which would be somewhat understandable especially if he hadn't run.

But he released everything he had, a lot of it were things that needed to be kept classified. That isn't cool, regardless of what he released that actually applied to whistle-blower status.

And there's a huge difference between collection (stored in large, essentially unaccessed databases) and spying on foreign actors (or U.S. individuals). Hell, Google and Amazon have the same (if not more) data on U.S. citizens than the NSA. The difference is, we have a lot of red tape (including warrants and AG required approval) to access those data warehouses.

All these people screaming about their privacy is a bunch of BS. If you have a single social media account you don't really care about privacy. What people care about is being embarrassed. Is there anything you have in digital form you wouldn't want someone else reading. That's the real truth. Privacy is an allusion. Walk into a store with your location turned on in your cell phone then go google real time bidding and tell me you care about privacy.

 

[LBoogie28]

Yes. Irony.
a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

As I stated, I got amusement, but don’t see your take on “deliberately contrary to what one expects.” I could have predicted the outcome.

 

[alaskanseminole]

So the NSA isn't actually spying on everyone, including Americans?
Because Clapper already did the mea culpa for lying to Congress about it.

Not in the way you think they are.

 

[seminole97]

As I stated, I got amusement, but don’t see your take on “deliberately contrary to what one expects.” I could have predicted the outcome.

You would have predicted that our government would act to trap him Russia?

 

[LBoogie28]

You would have predicted that our government would act to trap him Russia?

Revoke his passport when fleeing internationally? Absolutely. Snowden put himself in Russia. Trapping him there is just the chef’s kiss, comrade.