Edward Snowden raked in over $1.2 million in speaking fees, agent says

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden earned over $1.2 million in speaking fees after he spilled a huge trove of the U.S.’s most sensitive surveillance secrets seven years ago, a new court filing shows.

Justice Department lawyers filed the tally in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Friday as part of an ongoing lawsuit aimed at stripping Snowden of all profits he earned based on classified information he spirited out of the NSA while working for the spy agency.

Snowden’s booking agent, American Program Bureau of Newton, Mass., reported arranging 67 virtual speeches and panel-discussion appearances for him between September 2015 and May 2020.

Snowden’s biggest speaking payday disclosed is the very first on the list: $50,000 for a speech to Hong Kong-based brokerage firm CLSA in 2015. Other pricey appearances include a turn at Piston ad agency in Kuwait for $35,000, a $32,000 gig for a Portugese tourism bureau and $30,000 each for a “Get Motivated” lineup of motivational speakers and an appearance at the Park City Performing Arts Foundation.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/edward-snowden-speaking-fees-nsa-396947

[delisen]

1. Daniel Ellsberg commended Snowden.So do I.

[Ron Obvious]

2. As do I. n/t

[padah513]

4. I don't commend anyone who takes their country's secrets and

runs to the enemy of their country. That is exactly what Snowden did regardless of his reasons. I respect your opinion, but there's no way in hell Russia didn't see that information.

[getagrip_already]

5. +1000 - any good he did was erased by traitorous acts - being a traitor is profitable.....

Lets not forget he left the country with TB's worth of hard drives and other digital storage devices. Devices that contained the highlest level secrets our country has. And NONE of that has been used for so called noble reasons.

That data secured his safety first in china, and now in russia. He is a criminal for that act.

If he wanted to claim to be a hero, then he should have stayed here and faced charges. He took the cowards way out. Death is too good at this point.

[marble falls]

10. I don't commend "whistleblowers" who cut and run. I think he should have stayed and unloaded ...

all his information in court. Daniel Ellsberg I respect highly.

[delisen]

15. and Ellsberg commended Snowden.

[JonLP24]

21. Ellsburg likely would have been convicted under the espionage act

If a judge didn't dismiss the case outright after Nixon had his CIA goons break into his doctor's office.

There are a lot of controversial cases throughout the history of the use of the espionage act.

EFF

Dissent-Stifling Roots
At the turn of the 20th century, anti-immigrant, xenophobic sentiments dominated national rhetoric and was consequently reflected in the legislation crafted. On September 25, 1919, the 28th President of the United States Woodrow Wilson gave his final address in support of the League of Nations in Pueblo, CO and in his speech, he spoke of American immigrants with hyphenated nationalities: “Any man who carries a hyphen around with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready.” Wilson specifically targeted Irish-Americans and German-Americans, whom he perceived to be disloyal immigrants and potential spies. In fact, many state governments banned the teaching of German in schools, since it was “a language that disseminates the ideas of autocracy, brutality, and hatred.” The nativism movement continued to grow from the “Know-Nothing” party to the Palmer raids as concerns about espionage and disloyalty swirled.

Thus, the Espionage Act was born against the backdrop of World War I and amidst fears of subversion of American democracy. Its primary purpose was to deal with avoidance of the draft, sabotage of state activities, and espionage. But its subsequent interpretations led to the punishment of socialists, pacifists, and other anti-war activists. Most infamously during this period, former Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 1918 speech, denouncing the Espionage Act of 1917. The Supreme Court upheld his sentence, which was eventually commuted post-World War I.

The Espionage Act was further modified by the Sedition Act of 1918 but those amendments were ultimately overturned on March 3, 1921, when World War I ended. The Sedition Act sought to criminalize statements during the war that were “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive…about the form of government of the United States.” Those found in violation of the rules set forth in the act were subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Tested in Court
The constitutionality of the Espionage Act as a basis for punishing speech was tested in the landmark case, Schenck v. United States (1919), which concluded that First Amendment did not bar Schenck’s prosecution. The appellant Charles Schenck had mailed anti-draft letters to draftees, which read “Do not submit to intimidation.” The Supreme Court held that Schenck’s words were not protected by the First Amendment and was guilty of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/06/one-hundred-years-espionage-act

The EFF successfully defended DU in a lawsuit from a copyright troll.

I don't think that people that take the position Snowden should stay & face charges understand the Espionage Act law.

[TomVilmer]

3. He will probably need that and much more for a defense fund

[getagrip_already]

6. he will never be handed over to a court with jurisdiction, so doubtful

Russia will harbor him forever unless trump pardons him. He will never see the inside of a court or jail.

[TomVilmer]

7. Edward Snowden would return to the US if guaranteed a fair trial

"Of course I would like to return to the United States. That is the ultimate goal. But if I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison, the one bottom-line demand that we all have to agree to is that at least I get a fair trial. And that's the one thing the government has refused to guarantee because they won't provide access to what's called a public interest defense. I'm not asking for a parade. I'm not asking for a pardon. What I'm asking for is a fair trial. And this is the bottom-line that any American should require."

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/17/politics/edward-snowden-russia-us-fair-trial/index.html

[getagrip_already]

8. Sorry, I don't believe that for a minute......

He would always get a fair trial. That's how we roll (or at least rolled before trump).

His reasons are very self serving. He never intends to return to face trial. He wants what the gov't has in their prosecution arguments. He doesn't get any special treatment.

Let him stand on the same rules as any federal defendant. He doesn't get anything special one way or another.

He is coward, a thief, and a traitor.

[TomVilmer]

9. Some people has experienced it differently...

Daniel Ellsberg in 1973:
My lawyer, exasperated, said he "had never heard of a case where a defendant was not permitted to tell the jury why he did what he did." The judge responded: well, you're hearing one now.

Snowden is a hero, a whistle-blower and a patriot .

[oldsoftie]

13. Post #4 has a much more accurate description. He caused the deaths of many.

TRAITOR.

[TomVilmer]

16. And you know this from what sources?

[oldsoftie]

17. President Obama's own people. I trust him & his words.

"No, I don't think Mr. Snowden was a patriot," President Obama.

Of course not. "Patriots" dont get treated as a hero in RUSSIA & CHINA

[TomVilmer]

19. Good for you!

[JonLP24]

22. Traitor is incorrect

He leaked to journalists hardly the same thing.

Trump has gotten away with a level of real treason I didn't think was possible and he still tweeted Russian intelligence propaganda after all the legal troubles he had over Russia & Ukraine.

[oldsoftie]

24. Oh please. He took his information to China & Russia.

And STAYED in Russia. Putin wouldnt allow that if he wasnt pleased with what he got.
Pres Obama was/is right about him, as is everyone in the intelligence community who knows what was stolen.

[JonLP24]

25. He gave his information to The Guardian journalists

He specifically avoided Wikileaks which upset Assange. He was aware because a filmmaker was working both on an Assange documentary & Snowden documentary. He claimed asylum or something in Hong Kong and ended up with Russia as his only choice.

Bush was the one who was wrong about expanding mass surveillance and if Snowden released the info during that administration he would be a DU hero. However, he felt like Obama would change things for the better like many of us and he saw how other whistleblowers were treated by the Bush administration. The espionage act for whistleblowers was Bush's idea.

[fleur-de-lisa]

11. What's he gonna' spend it on? Potato vodka and borscht?

[oldsoftie]

12. Treason pays well apparently.

[betsuni]

14. Wait, I thought paid speeches were bad. Isn't it, like, corrupting?

Especially giving paid speeches in places like brokerage firms and capitalist corporations. And that millionaires were bad. I heard that a lot in 2016.

[oldsoftie]

18. EXCELLENT POINT!!!!!

[betsuni]

20. I guess it's all okay now, like "If you write a best-selling book you can be a millionaire, too."

[oldsoftie]

23. Ouch; I see what you did there......