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He also made no effort to disclose or inform internally - it's pretty cut and dry. Even if the President personally wanted to, it's simply not a precedent any a

He also made no effort to disclose or inform internally - it's pretty cut and dry. Even if the President personally wanted to, it's simply not a precedent any administration can afford to set.

klausjensen 10y ago
That is not correct. Quote: Asked specifically if he felt like he had exhausted all other avenues before deciding to leak classified information to the public, Snowden responded: Yes. I had reported these clearly problematic programs to more than ten distinct officials, none of whom took any action to address them. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/07/snowden-i-raised-nsa-concerns-internally-over-10-times-before-going-rogue/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/07...
- eli 10y ago
  It is unclear how accurate this is. Quote: "After extensive investigation, including interviews with his former NSA supervisors and co-workers, we have not found any evidence to support Mr. Snowden’s contention that he brought these matters to anyone’s attention." He says he told people, NSA says he didn't.
  - falcolas 10y ago
    In a he-said-she-said against the NSA, given the information released and the NSA's history of telling the truth to the public (including Congress), I'm inclined to side with Snowden on this one. The NSA has nothing to gain, and more to lose, if they say that he did follow proper procedures.
    - eli 10y ago
      Sure, that's understandable. Though Snowden has strong incentives to equivocate on this point. I imagine this is the sort of thing that might be settled in a trial, should one ever occur.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago
  > That is not correct. It is in fact correct. You have an outdated claim by Snowden which is not supported by any evidence, this year NSA released emails of his 'internal' communications with FOIA and it was discussed (here on HN [0]). As far as documented evidence his only attempt to raise an issue internally was emailing legal counsel regarding a 'test question' - this is laughable. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837578 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837578
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Got to suggest, emails may not be the way he would communicate concerns. Especially knowing what he did about how email is not private.
    - forgotpwtomain 10y ago
      > Got to suggest, emails may not be the way he would communicate concerns. Especially knowing what he did about how email is not private. If you want whistle-blower protections, you need to go through official channels and document document document. I am not saying the US has good protections (obviously it doesn't) - but we have to admit that Snowden isn't the model of someone that tried to go through the proper channels.
      - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
        If you want to disappear without a trace, just use email inside NSA to criticize the NSA and suggest you might be a whistleblower. To get protection, you have to survive first.
        tptacek 10y ago
        "Disappear without a trace"? It's the world's largest IT organization, not the KGB.
  - zipwitch 10y ago
    Just so I'm clear here, you're expecting us to trust the NSA? An agency that is publicly on officially on the record as lying to Congress?

He also made no effort to disclose or inform internally - it's pretty cut and dry. Even if the President personally wanted to, it's simply not a precedent any administration can afford to set.

klausjensen 10y ago

That is not correct. Quote: Asked specifically if he felt like he had exhausted all other avenues before deciding to leak classified information to the public, Snowden responded: Yes. I had reported these clearly problematic programs to more than ten distinct officials, none of whom took any action to address them. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/07/snowden-i-raised-nsa-concerns-internally-over-10-times-before-going-rogue/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/07...

eli 10y ago
It is unclear how accurate this is. Quote: "After extensive investigation, including interviews with his former NSA supervisors and co-workers, we have not found any evidence to support Mr. Snowden’s contention that he brought these matters to anyone’s attention." He says he told people, NSA says he didn't.
- falcolas 10y ago
  In a he-said-she-said against the NSA, given the information released and the NSA's history of telling the truth to the public (including Congress), I'm inclined to side with Snowden on this one. The NSA has nothing to gain, and more to lose, if they say that he did follow proper procedures.
  - eli 10y ago
    Sure, that's understandable. Though Snowden has strong incentives to equivocate on this point. I imagine this is the sort of thing that might be settled in a trial, should one ever occur.
forgotpwtomain 10y ago
> That is not correct. It is in fact correct. You have an outdated claim by Snowden which is not supported by any evidence, this year NSA released emails of his 'internal' communications with FOIA and it was discussed (here on HN [0]). As far as documented evidence his only attempt to raise an issue internally was emailing legal counsel regarding a 'test question' - this is laughable. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837578 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837578
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Got to suggest, emails may not be the way he would communicate concerns. Especially knowing what he did about how email is not private.
  - forgotpwtomain 10y ago
    > Got to suggest, emails may not be the way he would communicate concerns. Especially knowing what he did about how email is not private. If you want whistle-blower protections, you need to go through official channels and document document document. I am not saying the US has good protections (obviously it doesn't) - but we have to admit that Snowden isn't the model of someone that tried to go through the proper channels.
    - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
      If you want to disappear without a trace, just use email inside NSA to criticize the NSA and suggest you might be a whistleblower. To get protection, you have to survive first.
      - tptacek 10y ago
        "Disappear without a trace"? It's the world's largest IT organization, not the KGB.
- zipwitch 10y ago
  Just so I'm clear here, you're expecting us to trust the NSA? An agency that is publicly on officially on the record as lying to Congress?