Snowden Rips Apart ‘Obvious Falsehoods’ of House Intel Committee After Claims of Russian Ties
Edward Snowden is not all too happy with a report out Thursday morning by the House Intelligence Committee that found the legendary NSA leaker is in constant contact with Russian intelligence.
The newly declassified passages reveal that the House Intelligence Committee alleges that Snowden, “has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services.” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking minority member of the panel, added, “Snowden and his defenders claim that he is a whistleblower, but he isn’t, as the committee’s review shows.”
Snowden took to his Twitter feed shortly after — which boasts 2.67 million followers and famously only “follows” the official NSA account — which his own long tirade in direct response, slamming the House findings as fraudulent and riddled with “obvious falsehoods.”
Unsurprising that HPSCI’s report is rifled with obvious falsehoods. The only surprise is how accidentally exonerating it is. 1/x
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
After three years of investigation and millions of dollars, they can present no evidence of harmful intent, foreign influence, or harm. Wow.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
First, read three-time Pulitzer-winner @BartonGellman‘s takedown of several documented, provably false claims: https://t.co/4kpK06sAdW
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
An indicator of HPSCI’s slant is the knowing omission of my strident, well-documented criticisms of Russian policy: https://t.co/rbAUeGZPd7
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Despite this, they claim without evidence I’m in cahoots with Russian intel. Everyone knows this is false, but let’s examine their basis:
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
A quote from a Russian guy who just this week claimed NATO assassinated Russia’s Ambassador. Not kidding: https://t.co/wYuKWyF0bb
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Moreover, Klintsevich states clearly in the audio (which NPR omits from English translation) that he’s only speculating (“Ya dumayu sto…”)
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
This is the standard of evidence the worst claims they level are based on, after three years and millions of dollars. But it goes on.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Claim: I took a trip to trip to the PRC while in Japan. Never happened — not even transit. And USG knows this, because of passport control.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Claim: I went to a hacker conference, met Chinese hackers, then told people at NSA how great China is (seriously?). False and insane.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Moreover, I never went to any hacker con during my time in government, IIRC. Think my first was HOPE, speaking alongside Ellsberg– in 2014!
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
I could go on forever. It is an endless parade of falsity so unbelievable it comes across as parody. Yet unintentionally exonerating:
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
They document me going, again and again — over years, despite punishments — to superiors to report complaints of waste, fraud, and abuse.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
They characterize many of the best things I ever did — standing up for co-workers, reporting XSS vulns in TS/SCI systems — as wrongs.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Not one page mentions this journalism won the Pulitzer Prize for Public service, reformed our laws, and changed even the President’s mind.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
Yet they argue at length I should have gone to NSA’s Inspector General. That he would end these abuses and protect whistleblowers.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 22, 2016
The report from the House Intelligence Committee, dated September 15, 2016, further alleges, “Snowden caused tremendous damage to national security, and the vast majority of the documents he stole have nothing to do with programs impacting individual privacy interested — they instead pertain to military, defense, and intelligence programs of great interest to America’s adversaries.” It continued to note, in no uncertain terms, that Snowden is not a whistleblower; the report even refers to Snowden as “a serial exaggerator and fabricator” at one point, taking many swipes at his personal character in their executive summary and the conduct with which he handled himself while employed as a NSA contractor.
Snowden first fled to Moscow, Russia in June 2013, where he has been repeatedly been granted asylum ever since. He is still living in an undisclosed location in Russia.
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