Edward Snowden said on Friday that he plans to vote in November’s presidential election despite remaining exiled in Moscow after leaking a cache of top-secret U.S. National Security Agency documents. On Capitol Hill, a House committee met in secret today.
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There is “no evidence that Snowden has made any effort to formally express his concerns” about the activities of the NSA, and cannot be considered a “whistleblower”, protected by the law, also says Committee in a summary of its report, details of which are classified and cannot be published.
The two-year investigation (how did it take so long?) said Snowden had done “tremendous damage” to the security of the nation.
I was excited to see this film, and despite all his conspiracy theorist glory, I like Oliver Stone and his films; and I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt; I’m even in the basket of people who consider Snowden a hero who should be pardoned and allowed to return home; heck, I even like Peter Gabriel; but, given the extensive prior coverage of this man and this subject, this movie is simply irrelevant and tiresome – but maybe that’s what the government wants us to think. NPR’s David Welna reports.
Soon after the congressional report surfaced, Snowden took to Twitter to refute claims that he falsified his records and regarding the number of documents that he leaked, stating that many of those documents were downloaded for intelligence uses.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House intelligence committee, said Snowden betrayed his colleagues and his country.
Fifth, and finally, the report blasts the NSA for not doing anything, three years after the fact, to better protect its systems.
The Edward Snowden portrayed in that trailer by actor Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Rooney says, is not the serial exaggerator and fabricator the committee’s report says he is. California’s Adam Schiff is the intelligence panel’s top Democrat. He is also a lawyer for Edward Snowden. And I think among the most significant facts is that the vast majority of what he took has nothing to do with privacy or civil liberties.
The report ended by saying that the NSA needs to improve its work on creating an environment in which another Snowden-style leak can not take place, claiming that not enough has been done to reduce the risk. “Most pertained to military, defense and intelligence programs of interest to our enemies”.
Jonathan Man said his Canadian partner took on a lot of responsibility during the frantic days when sheltered the US fugitive.
“Snowden” follows the life of Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), from upstart soldier in 2004, through his training and career in the Central Intelligence Agency, and later as a contractor for the NSA, after Central Intelligence Agency field work proved to be too intense for the brilliant, reserved young man with deeply held beliefs about morality and patriotism.
ROONEY: He was, like, this little guy fighting this behemoth of oppressive government when that’s not at all what it was. But, you know, I guess it makes for good, uh, cinema.
Add Snowden’s mild-mannered, Clark Kent-ish demeanor to the inherent dullness of sitting in front of a computer monitor and you have a movie that, despite its significance, is boring as Hell.
-Absolutely. I absolutely will see the movie.
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Although Snowden wraps up too neatly in the end – possibly due to the still-evolving nature of its subject’s story in the real world (he’s still considered a traitor by the USA government and forced to live in Russia) – it also manages to seem increasingly relevant in the modern political climate.
