The Californian leaders of the U.S. House Select Committee on Intelligence are condemning former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden after a two-year inquiry into Snowden’s actions, methods and alleged motivations.
The full 36-page Intelligence Committee report has been marked classified but Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, and Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, released a three-page summary Thursday.
“The vast majority of the documents he stole have nothing to do with programs impacting individual privacy interests – they instead pertain to military, defense and intelligence programs of great interest to America’s adversaries,” said the unclassified summary.
Snowden in 2013 revealed the existence of the NSA’s surveillance program to gather Americans’ phone records. He’s in exile in Moscow and hoping to receive a pardon from President Barack Obama.
The Intelligence Committee report came the day before Oliver Stone’s sympathetic biopic “Snowden” hits theaters.
“Edward Snowden is no hero – he’s a traitor who willfully betrayed his colleagues and his country,” said Nunes, who chairs the Intelligence Committee.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said Snowden portrayed himself as a truth-seeking whistleblower.
“The committee’s review – a product of two years of extensive research – shows his claims to be self-serving and false, and the damage done to our national security to be profound,” Schiff said.
The government charges I faked a sick day and have a GED?
Edward Snowden in a tweet
The summary of the Intelligence Committee report paints Snowden as a disgruntled employee who leaked the information following conflicts with his managers. All members of the House Intelligence Committee signed a letter to Obama on Thursday urging him not to pardon Snowden.
Snowden appeared to respond Thursday by retweeting a tweet from journalist Glenn Greenwald, who was among those to whom he leaked the information about the NSA surveillance.
“BREAKING: Government officials dislike those who expose their illegal surveillance and trigger global debate about their behavior,” the tweet read.
Snowden subsequently tweeted that after two years of investigation “the government charges I faked a sick day and have a GED?”
Sean Cockerham: 202-383-6016, @seancockerham
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