EDWARD SNOWDEN

 

Do Not Pardon Edward Snowden by Chloe Hagan

 

(Audible, N.D)

Who is Edward Snowden and What did he do?

Edward Snowden started working for the Central Intelligence Agency in 2006, where he worked as a security technician under diplomatic cover. This position meant he was given top secret clearance. He worked for the CIA until 2009, in which he switched to working as a private contractor that serviced the National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA is responsible for the US government’s communication and security intelligence. While servicing the NSA and having his security clearances, he obtained classified information about the NSA, specifically about U.S surveillance techniques. In May of 2013, Snowden left for Hong Kong on medical leave from his job and talked with The Guardian media reporters about NSA secrets. Snowden releases damning information about how the NSA “improperly collected phone call records of Americans”, with his leaking a series of documents including:

1. A court order that required Verizon to give meta data to the NSA (like phone numbers, numbers dialed, duration of calls, etc). 

2. A document that disclosed the existence of PRISM, a data mining program that gave the US Intelligence agencies “direct access” to major internet data corporations like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple. (Ray, 2022). 

3. Claimed the NSA had been hacking Chinese computers since 2009.

1. He painted this as the reason he decided to work as a contractor for the NSA and wanted to learn about secret NSA activities. 

An interesting fact about Snowden’s case is that he willingly came forward in The Guardian and The Washington Post about his identity after publishing the information. He has become one of, if not, the most infamous whistleblower in US history. This begs the question, how should government agencies move forward with contractors in security clearances? This article had a quote from former deputy press secretary Tony Fratto, where he found that “We can name the 20 people or so over the past 10 years who've leaked 'top secret' information," and that  "Out of millions. ... The number of people who have divulged 'top secret' information is remarkably small”. (Fratto, 2013). 

What privacy concerns and laws are involved in his case? 

The fundamental issue that Snowden did was break United States law and endanger national security through his whistleblower status. Not only that, but the reveal to the general public that government surveillance was taking place without knowledge opened up a discussion that still occurs today, about if government and private entities have the right to collect data and use it for tracking/surveillance purposes. Snowden was charged on June 21st of 2013 with two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. The Espionage Act is a Federal law where it was made illegal to convey information with the intent of interfering with the US armed forces interests and projects or promoting the success of US enemies. The Espionage Act also criminalizes the publication of any information related to National Security without authorization. The theft charges pertain to the documents he released, as it counted as his stealing from the United States Government. He was in Hong Kong at the time of the charges being pressed, leading to questions of if he would need to be extradited by the Hong Kong Government to face trial in the United States. 

According to a 2012 report from the office of the director of national intelligence, more than 1.4 million people have “top-secret- security clearance”. This report concluded that more than 483,000 government contractors (like Snowden at the time when he worked for the National Security Agency (NSA)) were given “top secret” security clearances, with 582,000 having “confidential” or “secret clearance”. This paints the question, how many more leaks like this are going to occur with those who have clearance access, but decide to divulge this information?

The question of whether he should be pardoned or not.

Since this incident occurred during the Obama administration, there have been three standing presidents (including Obama) that have all decided to not pardon Snowden. Former President Obama was very firm in his position against Snowden, which can be seen in the video below.

https://youtu.be/wS9TXJqxkSQ

Former President Trump was more open to pardoning Snowden, but Biden remains the same in not addressing/not issuing a pardon for Snowden. 

Why he should not be pardoned 

https://youtu.be/F06n348V0f8

Even if you believe that Snowden did a good thing in releasing this information, the question of a pardon should be out of the question. I believe that Snowden should not be pardoned because although his actions were noble in releasing information to the American people, his actions clearly violated US federal law and compromised National Security. His past security clearances and record of divulging secret information makes him untrustworthy to come back to the US, as his actions could have put US citizen’s lives at risk by exposing information about US intelligence activities abroad, risking further involvement in our affairs by our enemies like China and Russia. Even if he is not a current threat with him losing his security clearance and never being able to work for the government again, he betrayed an agreement of secrecy he agreed to when working for the NSA and can never be trusted again. 

Fratto, the former Deputy Press Secretary I discussed earlier, had a great quote to illustrate this point.  

"The 'top secret' clearance is not a hall pass to go around rummaging for information. It absolutely puts a requirement and creates obligations for anybody who is looking at information," Fratto said. "Because of the 'top secret' clearance that they have, it places an obligation on them — a legal obligation — to treat that information responsibly."

Snowden being exiled in Russia also proves as an issue for a pardon, as his involvement with our most notorious enemy and his usefulness to the Russian Government for information (even if he does not disclose anything to them) would be a risk to national security and cannot risk a “double-agent” scenario. 

References

Bacon, J. (2019, June 26). NA improperly collected US phone call data after saying problem was fixed. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/03/edward-snowden-nsa-surveillance-guardian-court-rules

Carafano, J. J. (2020, December 17). Edward Snowden should not get a pardon under any circumstances. https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/commentary/edward-snowden-should-not-get-pardon-under-any-circumstances

Logiurato, B. (n.d.). How A GED-Holder Managed To Get 'Top Secret' Government Clearance. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-top-secret-clearance-nsa-whistleblower-2013-6

Reuters. (2020, September 3). NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden was illegal, court rules seven years on. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/03/edward-snowden-nsa-surveillance-guardian-court-rules

Snowden charged with 3 felonies. (2013, June 21). https://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/edward-snowden-charged-nsa-093179