“You know, not that many people have talked about the NSA, so this is really hard-earned research and I think it’s very valid”, said Stone.
Advertisement
As of right now, it doesn’t look like he will be pardoned and we are all wondering how long he will be able to stay in Russian Federation before he is kicked out.
But in effect, the intelligence committee and Snowden’s supporters are using the idea of a presidential pardon to frame a public-relations duel over whether history should view him as a whistle-blower or a traitor. On Thursday, the committee released a four-page summary of a two-year investigation into Snowden that said he damaged US national security.
Snowden’s disclosures revealed global surveillance programmes, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments, and fueled debates around the world about mass surveillance, government secrecy and the balance between national security and information privacy.
The plea seeking presidential pardon for former NSA agent Edward Snowden got a major boost with the junior United States Senator Bernie Sanders coming to whistleblower’s support.
The report appears created to directly refute some plot points in Stone’s movie, such as Snowden leaving the army after breaking his legs.
The entire panel – Democrats and Republicans alike – signed a letter sent directly to the president, asserting that Snowden is “not a patriot”. His leak set the stage for fights that continue between the US government and technology companies including Apple Inc.
In addition to the letter, the House committee also announced that it had unanimously voted to adopt the findings of its two-year investigative report on Snowden’s actions.
The law, which requires the government to request such information from telecommunications companies, put an end to one of the first spy programs Snowden exposed and has been hailed as one of the most significant reforms made to curb US spying. “I’m not aware of any conversations or any communications between Snowden and the president”, he said.
The real Edward Snowden holds a press conference via satellite from Moscow on Wednesday.
Snowden, 33, gave large numbers of sensitive files to journalists in 2013, an action he said he took out of concern that government surveillance programs were operating in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
That point is downright freakish, since Snowden is not only the prototypical whistleblower, but likely the most significant one in a generation.
Snowden put USA service members “and the American people at risk”, he added.
Earlier this year, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said a plea deal with Snowden was a possibility.
The government charges I faked a sick day and have a GED? Snowden repeatedly said he would return to the United States if Washington guaranteed him a fair trial.
Advertisement
“The Committee found no evidence that Snowden took any official effort to express concerns about us intelligence activities – legal, moral, or otherwise – to any oversight officials within the USA government, despite numerous avenues for him to do so”.
