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

7:45 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: Yahoo! News, Politico, News Desk, Doug Ross, China Real Time Report, Daily Mail, The Week, Boing Boing, AMERICAblog, The Huffington Post, Telegraph, New York Times, The Sun, The Caucus, Talking Points Memo, Good Gear Guide, The Dish, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Informed Comment, Business Insider, The Impolitic, FP Passport, The Gateway Pundit, NO QUARTER USA NET, BBC, Reuters, The Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA, No More Mister Nice Blog, RT, Balloon Juice, USA Today, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, Forbes, Vox Popoli, CANNONFIRE, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Runnin' Scared, Fox News Insider, Little Green Footballs, Lawfare, Instapundit, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, American Power, Wired, Scared Monkeys, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com, The Hinterland Gazette, GigaOM, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Power Line, The Daily Caller, AllThingsD, Mashable, U.S. News, Gawker, emptywheel, Liberal Values, Whiskey Fire, Althouse, 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

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, U.S. News, Business Insider, The Hinterland Gazette, Firedoglake, Forbes, Engadget 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: Wonkblog, Little Green Footballs, News Desk, Politico, Lawfare, Patterico's Pontifications, Post Politics and The Reaction

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: Wired, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things' - video — The source behind the Guardian's NSA files talks to Glenn Greenwald about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation

Discussion: Democracy in America, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, Hullabaloo, emptywheel and The Huffington Post

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

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

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

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

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

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

Discussion: Guardian, Prairie Weather, China Real Time Report, Daily Mail and The Huffington Post

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: CNN

Peggy Noonan's Blog:

The Era of Metadata — Five blunt thoughts on the growing surveillance state: — 1. The thing political figures fear most is a terror event that will ruin their careers. The biggest thing they fear is that a bomb goes off and it can be traced to something they did or didn't do, an action they did or didn't support.

Discussion: naked capitalism and Hot Air

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: msnbc.com

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

Discussion: Politico, Balloon Juice and National Review

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

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Rand Paul Tells Fox Viewers To Join Lawsuit Against NSA: 'I'm Going To Challenge This At The Supreme Court' — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took to Fox News Sunday to declare his legal opposition to the NSA's surveillance programs. “I'm going to be seeing if I can challenge this at the Supreme Court level,” Paul said.

Discussion: Red Alert Politics, Politico and Taylor Marsh

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Paul weighs Supreme Court challenge to NSA surveillance programs

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, CNN, Politico and The PJ Tatler

Megan Wilson / The Hill:

Rand Paul says he's key to bridging Senate, House immigration gap — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Sunday that his Senate colleagues would have to go through him in order to win support from the House to successfully pass comprehensive immigration reform — “What they have in the Senate …

Discussion: Politico and CNN