Edward Snowden swears allegiance to Russia and receives passport, lawyer says

[groundloop]

Source: Washington Post

Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked information about U.S. surveillance programs, swore an oath of allegiance to Russia and has collected his Russian passport, his lawyer told state media on Friday.

“Edward received a Russian passport yesterday and took the oath in accordance with the law,” lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. “He is, of course, happy, thanking the Russian Federation for the fact that he received citizenship,” he continued. “And most importantly, under the Constitution of Russia, he can no longer be extradited to a foreign state.”

Snowden, 39, is wanted by Washington on espionage charges. He argues that his actions were in the interests of the United States. In any case, his revelations exposed the breadth of U.S. digital spying programs and altered the public’s understanding of technology, privacy and digital security.

It’s unclear whether Snowden swore the oath of allegiance at the same time as he was granted a passport, but the two are common procedures when foreigners become Russian citizens. The text includes swearing “to protect the freedom and independence of the Russian Federation, to be loyal to Russia, to respect its culture, history and traditions,” and to promise to “perform the duties of a citizen of the Russian Federation for the good of the state and society.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/02/edward-snowden-russian-citizenship/?utm_campaign=wp_the_5_minute_fix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fix&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F38789a8%2F638a6ebe9d88976ba348c892%2F62101276ade4e27e805c796a%2F38%2F51%2F638a6ebe9d88976ba348c892&wp_cu=5d2d531c09ee47b25be9cf659633b3d5%7CD8529A03CA9C7F78E0530100007FC8E3

[AllaN01Bear]

1. hope he gets conscripted .

[thomski64]

5. ...on his way to..

..free Donbas for the Glory of
Putinkim...

[nycbos]

9. Unfortunately...

... that won't happen. He still valuable a propaganda asset for the regime.

[Escurumbele]

32. What better propaganda than to have Snowden, born in the USA, now a Russian, fight for his

new country? I say he is going...

[emulatorloo]

14. His lawyer claims he wont be conscripted. From WAPO:

Snowden swore his oath and received his passport as Moscow continued its war on Ukraine, now in its 10th month. His lawyer, Kucherena, said when Snowden was granted citizenship that he would not be subject to the partial military mobilization that Putin had decreed days before, since only men with previous military experience were being called up. However, it has been widely reported that many Russians without such experience have been summoned for duty in recent months.

[Pobeka]

15. Hah! You know, Russian words are so trustworthy!

I wouldn't put it past the Russians to make a show of Snowden heading to war in Ukraine just for propaganda purposes.

I suspect Snowden is between a rock and a hard place, as they say.

[emulatorloo]

20. My thoughts exactly on the propaganda piece!

[forgotmylogin]

37. "Welcome to Russia. Here are your boots and gun..."

"Actually, no more guns. And only one boot. We do have for you this sturdy piece of wood and pack of sunflower seeds. Ukraine is over there. Do svidaniya, Comrade!"

[wendyb-NC]

2. Hmm?

I wonder if he will be required to enlist in the Russian Military?

[speak easy]

3. No 'digital spying programs' in Russia. Nyet.

[BeyondGeography]

4. The man has a nose for freedom

[stopdiggin]

33. Oh! Brava. So much better that I could have ..

I don't follow the man and/or his exploits closely, so I will refrain ...
Other than to say that - from very early on - I think he has always lent himself to skepticism concerning motivation ..

[LiberalFighter]

6. Actions in the interests of the United States? Hah!

[moniss]

7. Honestly I never had

any doubt who was pulling his strings. Now since it's official maybe his main supporter Glenn Greenwald will welcome him at a Putin reception.

[marble falls]

8. So much for the "patriotic whistle blower" cover. I bet he got a job with FSB, six -eight years ago.

[ExtremelyWokeMatt]

10. Ew.

There are many many things I’d go through to *not* swear allegiance to them. Actually… I think I’d have to pass through multiple afterlives and find a parallel universe where they somehow aren’t massive coercive assholes to even consider overt friendship with the state after learning about what they’ve done in this universe. It’s a shame Putin got into office and brought back all of the KGB style muck.

They could’ve reconstructed properly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Still can technically… but kind of hard when they’re hellbent on corrupt ‘governance’ and don’t give two figs about anyone not ‘purely’ ethnically tied to St. Petersburg or whatever. I imagine once the people have had enough though the oligarchs, mafia, and local cronies will finally get kicked to the curb though. They have a lot of healing to do internally and culturally, once the abuse is stopped anyway.

[Kablooie]

11. So now he can be sent to Ukraine and Russia will the done with him.

[Kennah]

13. Justice would be he surrenders to the Ukrainians, and he's sent back to the U.S.

[paleotn]

12. Wonder where his supporters went?

Bueller? Bueller?

[BWdem4life]

24. Pretty sure his supporters would know better by now

than to out themselves on this site and subject themselves to the bullying that would inevitably occur.

[paleotn]

29. Not bullying. More like "We told you so".

Hell, I get that every day from my better half.

[Marthe48]

16. Can snowden show trump the process?

And all of the other traitors.

[roamer65]

17. Fucking traitor.

[dchill]

18. Say no more.

"No more."

[LudwigPastorius]

19. Let this be an example to Trump.

If he flees to the waiting arms of Mother Russia to avoid espionage charges, he'll eventually be accepted as a citizen.

Do it, you fat, oily, orange fuck.

[Xipe Totec]

21. May he be as loyal to Russia as he was to the United States. nt

[IronLionZion]

22. Send him to the front lines

[cstanleytech]

23. Surprised it took him this long.

[GoldandSilver]

25. Snowden misjudged the situation

The US government deliberately funneled Snowden to Russia, it was not something he wanted to do but he didn’t have much of a choice. Flee to Russia and the unknown and allow the US government to ruin his reputation or surrender to US authorities to be imprisoned, possibly for life.

Snowdens intention was to alert Americans to the fact their government has a huge “big brother” spy program that targets all Americans and they were lying through their teeth about it. It was his love of country and the American principles of democracy that led him to violate his oath of secrecy in the first place.

Russia gave him safe harbor. The US government and it’s propaganda machine continues to vilify him. Russia employs their own propaganda machine, using Snowden for their own purposes.

Snowden is a whistle blower and he deserves a level of gratitude for the sacrifices he made, even if his efforts were misplaced or misguided. He acted out of love, not hate. It is my hope he is able to restore his faith in humanity and live a good life where ever he chooses without fear.

[BeyondGeography]

26. He's dying for our sins!

In a racist, homophobic, kleptocratic, fascist hellhole led by a war criminal.

He’s a damned fool.

[mysteryowl]

27. Snowden is indeed, a whistle blower

I am surprised so many on this thread think he is a trader. This is DU, I thought.

[paleotn]

30. I've seen whistle blowers.

I know whistle blowers. They've been friends of mine. So take it from me, Snowden is no whistle blower.

[stopdiggin]

34. +1. first you have to get past (wade through)

the attention seeking and self aggrandizement ... And then you can move on to his methodology - and the company that he chose as associates and fellow travelers ... Mix in a little 'brightest guy in the room' hubris, justification and self entitlement ...
----- --- --- ------

It is hard for the self serving (and supremely entitled) - to have much of a grasp on true 'service.'

[markpkessinger]

40. I presume you will agree that Daniel Ellsberg was a whistleblower . . .

. . . and he has been fully supportive of Snowden. Do you suppose that you know more about what it means to be a whistleblower than Ellsberg?

[paleotn]

42. Putin seems to like him too. And that tells you what?

[okojo]

28. That is not what happened..

Last edited Sat Dec 3, 2022, 10:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Snowden lied about his need of a leave of absence at Booz Hamilton, the contractor for the NSA. He had been downloading data and documents for months before he fled the US.. Snowden has bragged he was some high level NSA employee when he was in reality he was a junior analyst working for others at a NSA facility in Hawaii for Booz Hamilton..

Snowden most likely was targeted by the Russians since 2007, when he was a contractor working for the US Consulate at Geneva.. He also worked in New Delhi.. Snowden most likely took his job in Hawaii with Booz Hamilton, with the purpose to download and access documents.. Snowden lied to his fellow employees about the need to access their password for computer maintenance, when he was actually using the passwords for access to take more files, many of them Dept of Defense Files.. Snowden took over 1.8 million documents..

Russia had to use PR, because it was better to portray Edward Snowden as a Whistleblower, than as a Russian Spy..

Snowden has lied about lots of his stuff, that he was hired as a hacker for both the CIA and NSA, when in reality he worked as a contractor trying to maintain software and mainframes of the NSA and CIA.. (one of his employees was Dell)

[stopdiggin]

35. Thank You! Snowden created a fictional narrative

of self aggrandizement. The real story is something quite different.

It's too bad so many were taken in (in large part because the transgressions of Security were in fact sweeping) - which doesn't change the fact that the Snowden's story is largely invented, and largely smoke screen for what really transpired.

[betsuni]

41. +1

[paleotn]

31. China would have been more than willing to learn his secrets.

If they haven't already. Sorry. Ain't buying it. Lots of ACTUAL whistle blowers were and are brave enough to come forward and face the music for their actions. To let the rule of law judge their actions. Snowden is a coward and ran away. Maybe because he wasn't a whistle blower after all, but a garden variety traitor. Since his case won't be adjudicated anytime soon, we may never know for sure.

[mitch96]

36. He is following in Steve Seagal's footsteps

[Hekate]

38. The man is a fool

[markpkessinger]

39. Snowden has a wife and children . . .

. . . which presumably he wants some kind of life with. That certainly couldn't have happened had he returned to the U.S. Will his life be all that he might have wished for? Probably not. But it is a life. And he never set out to go to Russia; the U.S. stranded him there when it revoked his passport.

Lest we forget, Snowden was charge under the Espionage Act of 1917, an egregious relic of the Wilson administration that was passed to try to stifle dissent over our involvement in WWI. That law allows for no defense that one was acting in the public interest, and that fact rendered the possibility of receiving a fair trial in this country out of the question.

[paleotn]

43. You presume far too much when it comes to Snowden.

He's about Snowden. Always has been. Nothing more. Nothing less.