memeorandum: Feinstein ‘Open’ to Hearings on Surveillance Programs (Brian Knowlton/The Caucus)

9:55 AM ET, June 10, 2013

Top Items:

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations — The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows — • Q&A with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Power Line, Politico, immi.is, BBC, Yahoo! News, The Atlantic Online, China Real Time Report, Associated Press, The Plum Line, Business Insider, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TechCrunch, Mediaite, The Agonist, The Raw Story, Gawker, americanthinker.com, News Desk, KALW, The Sun, Doug Ross, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Boing Boing, AMERICAblog, Talking Points Memo, Good Gear Guide, Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, RT, First Read, Telegraph, New York Times, Informed Comment, FP Passport, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, ViralRead, The Impolitic, UrbanGrounds, No More Mister Nice Blog, Forbes, Balloon Juice, PoliticusUSA, NO QUARTER USA NET, The Dish, The BLT, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Little Green Footballs, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Lawfare, USA Today, Fox News Insider, Hit & Run, The Hinterland Gazette, Runnin' Scared, Instapundit, Wired, Vox Popoli, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, CANNONFIRE, American Power, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Scared Monkeys, Washington Free Beacon, Whiskey Fire, U.S. News, Althouse, GigaOM, Liberal Values, AllThingsD, emptywheel, Mashable, LewRockwell.com Blog and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »

The Atlantic Online:

Edward Snowden in Hong Kong — I'm glad we have this information; I am sorry we are getting it from Hong Kong. — Three points: — 1) I believe what I wrote two days ago: that the United States and the world have gained much more, in democratic accountability, than they have lost …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Pressing Issues and Talking Points Memo

Barton Gellman / Washington Post:

Code name ‘Verax’: Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks — He called me BRASSBANNER, a code name in the double-barreled style of the National Security Agency, where he worked in the signals intelligence directorate. — Verax was the name he chose for himself, “truth teller” in Latin.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Wired, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower: ‘I do not expect to see home again’ — Source for the Guardian's NSA files on why he carried out the biggest intelligence leak in a generation - and what comes next — Edward Snowden was interviewed over several days in Hong Kong by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill.

Booz Allen Hamilton:

Booz Allen Statement on Reports of Leaked Information — Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking …

Discussion: Guardian, Business Insider, The Hinterland Gazette, Forbes, Firedoglake, Engadget, Gawker and Hit & Run

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

What's the Deal with Hong Kong? — Having given some initial reactions to the Snowden revelation below, let me say a bit more about Snowden's decision to go to Hong Kong. — Let's start by saying that the US has very long arms when it comes to seeking the extradition of people who've broken the laws at quite Snowden's scale.

Discussion: Guardian and Business Insider

Washington Post:

Edward Snowden identified as source of NSA leaks — Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old system administrator and former undercover CIA employee, unmasked himself Sunday as the principal source of recent Washington Post and Guardian disclosures about top-secret NSA programs, denouncing what he described …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Wonkblog, The Fix, The Heritage Foundation, Little Green Footballs, Politico, News Desk, Post Politics, Lawfare, Patterico's Pontifications, msnbc.com and The Reaction

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

DOJ launches criminal probe of NSA leaker — The Justice Department on Sunday confirmed that it is conducting a criminal investigation into the leak of classified information detailing the National Security Agency's phone and internet surveillance programs.

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Booz Allen Grew Rich on Government Contracts

Discussion: Politico, First Read and Telegraph

Daniel Ellsberg / Guardian:
Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America | Daniel Ellsberg

Discussion: The Verge and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
NSA leaker reveals self, has no apologies

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press and americanthinker.com

Brian Knowlton / The Caucus:
Feinstein ‘Open’ to Hearings on Surveillance Programs

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Lawyers, Guns & Money and AllThingsD

Julian Borger / Guardian:
Edward Snowden's choice of Hong Kong as haven is a high-stakes gamble

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, U.S. News, Business Insider, American Power, Telegraph, BBC and The Gateway Pundit

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
NSA whistleblower reveals his identity

Discussion: Politico

Bill Gertz / Washington Free Beacon:
NSA Leaker Surfaces in Hong Kong

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Guardian

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:
Edward Snowden: I mistakenly believed in Obama's promises

Discussion: USA Today, AMERICAN DIGEST, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Yahoo! News and The Gateway Pundit

Edward Snowden / New York Times:
Edward Snowden, Ex-C.I.A. Worker, Says He Disclosed U.S. Surveillance

Discussion: Politico, Guardian, Towleroad News #gay, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Prairie Weather and China Real Time Report

Michael B. Mukasey / Wall Street Journal:

Leaking Secrets Empowers Terrorists — The NSA's surveillance program doesn't do damage. Revealing it does. — Once again, the tanks-have-rolled left and the black-helicopters right have joined together in howls of protest. They were set off by last week's revelations that the U.S. government …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Senators should have known about snooping, says McCain

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Politico and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama to nominate Furman to lead economic council — President Obama will nominate Jason Furman as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers at a ceremony Monday afternoon at the White House. — Furman, currently the deputy director of the National Economic Council …

Discussion: Politico, CNN and The Week

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Big Shrug — I've been in this economics business for a while. In fact, I've been in it so long I still remember what people considered normal in those long-ago days before the financial crisis. Normal, back then, meant an economy adding a million or more jobs each year …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

IEA:

IEA report shows how to stop growth in energy-related emissions by 2020 at no net economic cost — Warning that the world is not on track to limit the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, the International Energy Agency (IEA) today urged governments to swiftly enact four energy policies …

Discussion: Washington Post and Guardian