Liberty for all – the United States sets a questionable example these days. The US National Security Agency (NSA) gathers more data on American citizens than it does about foreigners, Edward Snowden has said. During an acceptance speech for a โtruth-tellingโ prize, the whistleblower attacked NSA head, James Clapper, for lying about US surveillance.
โWe watch our own people more closely than anyone else in the world,โ said Edward Snowden, appearing in a live video link at the 11th annual Ridenhour Prizes ceremony in Washington. He was greeted by a standing ovation from the audience when he received the Ridenhour Award for โTruth-Telling.”
During his speech, the whistleblower said he leaked thousands of classified government documents, detailing the NSAโs mass surveillance programs because โit was the right thing to do, and now I see Iโm not the only one who felt that way.โ
โI thought the most likely outcome would be spending the rest of my life in prison,โ said Snowden.
He also criticized the Senate and the House Intelligence committees for their lack of oversight on the NSA and the intelligence community. Leveling criticism at the NSAโs director, James Clapper, Snowden blasted him for his โfamous lieโ during a speech last year.
In a testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee last March, Clapper stated that the NSA did โnot wittingly gather any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.โ It was later revealed in Snowdenโs documents that the agency does collect metadata indiscriminately from American telephone and internet companies. This prompted Clapper to go back on his statement, admitting it was โerroneousโ in an apology letter to Congress.
โWhen Clapper raised his hand and lied to the American public, was anyone tried? Were any charges brought?โ Snowden asked. โWithin 24 hours of going public, I had three charges against me.โ
The 30โyear-old former CIA contractor-turned whistleblower is currently residing in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum last year after he fled the US. In response to the massive security leaks, Washington filed for Snowdenโs extradition and charged him with theft, โunauthorized communication of national defense informationโ and โwillful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized personโ under the Espionage Act.
Snowdenโs visa will expire this June, but the whistleblowerโs lawyer, Jesselyn Radack, says they are confident his visa will be extended for another year.
โObviously, he misses America and would like to be able to come home,โ his attorney, Jesselyn Radack, told Reuters. โWe just donโt see that happening in the near future.โ
Radack added that Snowden was open for negotiation with the US Justice Department, but he will not be returning home โto be prosecuted for espionage.โ