Edward Snowden: 'I can sleep at night,' have done the 'right thing'
In his first televised interview Edward Snowden says he wishes he could go home but knows he did right leaking secrets
By Rosa Prince and Reuters
5:40AM BST 29 May 2014
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Edward Snowden, the US National Security Agency contractor who became a fugitive after leaking US intelligence, has said he was right to disclose the American government's use of surveillance programs to spy on its own people, saying he was comfortable with what he had done.
In an interview with NBC News, he described himself as a patriot for trying to stop violations of the Constitution. And while he admitted that he was homesick after claiming asylum in Russia, he said he was confident he had done the right thing.
"I may have lost my ability to travel," Mr Snowden said. "But I've gained the ability to go to sleep at night and to put my head on the pillow and feel comfortable that I've done the right thing even when it was the hard thing. And I'm comfortable with that."
Speaking from Moscow, where he is living in exile while facing US felony charges, Mr Snowdon said he was trained as a spy after enlisting for US Army special operations during the Iraq war, but became disillusioned.
He claimed that his actions were patriotic because he believed he was defending the constitution from the government.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10861781/Edward-Snowden-I-can-sleep-at-night-have-done-the-right-thing.html