Today, Russian president Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been living in Russia since 2013 after he stole 1.5 million classified documents and leaked thousands of them to the media. Putin obviously made this move to thumb his nose at the United States in response to his growing isolation and the massive losses his military has suffered in the war in Ukraine.
Some Americans view Edward Snowden as a whistleblower and a hero because he leaked classified documents on the controversial NSA metadata program, which caused a public uproar.
However, the House Intelligence Committee disproved such claims and explained why Snowden is a traitor and a fraud in a rare bipartisan report in 2016. The report contained five stunning findings:
- Snowden caused tremendous damage to U.S. national security;
- Snowden was not a whistleblower;
- Snowden was a poor performer and a disgruntled employee;
- Snowden was and remains a serial exaggerator and fabricator; and
- The NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have not done enough to prevent another massive unauthorized disclosure.
You can read about these findings in an article I wrote for National Review in 2016.
The unclassified portion of the House Intelligence Committee report was silent on the issue of whether Snowden was recruited by a foreign intelligence service. As I explained in my 2016 article, several other former CIA officers and I have long believed this. Putin’s decision to grant Snowden Russian citizenship – almost certainly at Snowden’s request – probably confirms our belief.
Let’s hope a future Russian government quickly deports Edward Snowden to the United States so he can stand trial for the damage he did to our national security.