Edward-Snowden

Trump Says He Will "Take a Look" at Pardoning Snowden, Ultimately Does Not Grant Pardon

| Importance: 7/10

At a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering a pardon for Edward Snowden, stating “Many people think he should somehow be treated differently, and other people think he did very bad things, and I’m going to take a …

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Edward Snowden Publishes Memoir "Permanent Record"; DOJ Immediately Sues for Proceeds

| Importance: 8/10

Edward Snowden published his memoir “Permanent Record” on September 17, 2019 (Constitution Day), through Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company. The book provided Snowden’s first-person account of his life, his work in the intelligence community, his decision to …

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Oliver Stone's "Snowden" Film Brings NSA Whistleblower Story to Mainstream Audiences

| Importance: 7/10

Director Oliver Stone’s biographical thriller “Snowden” was released in U.S. theaters, bringing Edward Snowden’s story to mainstream audiences through a Hollywood dramatization starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the NSA whistleblower. The film chronicled Snowden’s journey …

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Obama Signs USA FREEDOM Act, Ending NSA Bulk Metadata Collection

| Importance: 9/10

President Barack Obama signed the USA FREEDOM Act into law on June 2, 2015, representing the most significant reform of U.S. surveillance programs since the 1970s and a direct response to Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA mass surveillance. The Act prohibited bulk collection of all …

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NSA DISHFIRE Program Collects Nearly 200 Million Text Messages Daily Worldwide

| Importance: 8/10

The Guardian, citing documents leaked by Edward Snowden, revealed that the National Security Agency was collecting almost 200 million text messages per day from around the world through a program codenamed DISHFIRE. According to the leaked documents from 2011, the program collected “pretty …

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NSA Monitored Angela Merkel's Phone and 35 Other World Leaders

| Importance: 9/10

The Guardian newspaper reported, citing documents obtained from Edward Snowden, that the National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaked NSA memo, dated October 2006, revealed that senior U.S. government officials …

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Lavabit Encrypted Email Service Shuts Down Rather Than Comply with NSA Demands

| Importance: 8/10

Lavabit, an encrypted email service used by Edward Snowden, abruptly shut down rather than comply with federal government demands for the company’s SSL encryption keys, which would have compromised the privacy of all 400,000 users. Founder Ladar Levison announced the closure with a cryptic …

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Russia Grants Snowden Temporary Asylum After 39 Days in Moscow Airport

| Importance: 9/10

After spending 39 days confined to the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for one year on August 1, 2013. Russian authorities had restricted Snowden to the airport terminal after observing that U.S. authorities had …

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Snowden Flees Hong Kong for Moscow Seeking Asylum Amid U.S. Diplomatic Pressure

| Importance: 9/10

Edward Snowden boarded an Aeroflot commercial flight from Hong Kong to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on June 23, 2013, accompanied by Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks, just days after the U.S. filed espionage charges and requested his extradition. The Hong Kong government allowed Snowden to leave …

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U.S. Charges Edward Snowden with Espionage and Theft of Government Property

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a sealed criminal complaint against Edward Snowden on June 14, 2013, charging him with three felonies: unauthorized communication of national defense information, willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized …

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Edward Snowden Reveals Identity as NSA Whistleblower in Hong Kong Video

| Importance: 10/10

Edward Snowden publicly revealed himself as the source behind the explosive NSA surveillance leaks in a 12-minute video interview filmed at the Mira Hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and published by The Guardian. The 29-year-old former NSA contractor and CIA technical assistant had flown to Hong Kong on …

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Washington Post and Guardian Reveal NSA PRISM Program for Direct Server Access

| Importance: 10/10

The Washington Post and The Guardian simultaneously published explosive revelations about PRISM, a classified program allowing the National Security Agency and FBI to tap directly into the central servers of nine major U.S. internet companies to extract audio, video, photographs, emails, documents, …

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Snowden Reveals NSA Mass Surveillance and PRISM Program

| Importance: 10/10

Edward Snowden leaked classified NSA documents to The Guardian and Washington Post, exposing the massive PRISM surveillance program that collected electronic communications from major internet companies without warrants. The revelations showed the NSA was systematically collecting phone and internet …

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Guardian Publishes First Snowden Leak on NSA Verizon Phone Records Collection

| Importance: 10/10

Glenn Greenwald published the first article in The Guardian based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, revealing a top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) order requiring Verizon to hand over all telephone metadata to the National Security Agency on an “ongoing, daily …

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