Edward Snowden has been officially charged by the Department of Justice in the Eastern District of Virginia where Booz Allen Hamilton is headquartered.
From the Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who says he revealed that the National Security Agency collects Americans’ phone records and Internet data from U.S. communication companies, now faces charges of espionage and theft of government property. [...]
In addition to those charges, both brought under the Espionage Act, the government charged Snowden with theft of government property. Each crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Snowden will not be protected from prosecution by federal whistleblower laws because he did not reveal anything illegal.
Like it or not, everything he has revealed was approved by Congress. The alleged illegally he supposedly revealed has been thoroughly debunked, including by Greenwald himself.
For his part Greenwald is charging that this is proof that President Obama has a “vindictive mentality,” but he knew this was going to happen. The Department of Justice is not going to let someone walk free for espionage regardless of who currently occupies the White House.
And while we’re on the subject — the South China Morning Post ran an exclusive story today wherein Edward Snowden claims the NSA is vacuuming up millions of Chinese text messages and SMS data, including that of government officials.
We don’t know if that’s true, but making these kinds of revelations to Chinese publications isn’t going to help his case.