Edward Snowden NSA Whistleblower Makes Mindblowing Claims About What Kind of Power He Had
The US flag flutters in front of the US consulate in Hong Kong on June 10, 2013. Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old US government contractor and the source who leaked details of a vast secret US program to monitor Internet users was reported to be in Hong Kong and remained there ever since, holed up in a hotel room.
After a week of bombshell revelations regarding US. spy agency the NSA, the newspaper The Guardian has revealed its source. The man claiming to have leaked all of the information is Edward Snowden, a 29-year old employee of Booz Allen, which does contracting for the government in many capacities.
The 12.5 minute video interview with Snowden is well worth your time, as there are many facets worth breaking down, including why he decided to risk his entire life in order to be a whistleblower.
Most shocking, perhaps, is the power that he claims to have had.
At one point he says: "I had full access to the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire intelligence community, and undercover assets all around the world."
Earlier he claims: "Any analyst at any time can target anyone … I, sitting at my desk, certainly have the authorities to wiretap anyone — from you or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President."
And around the 10:30 mark, he makes the shocking claim: 'If I had just wanted to harm the US, you could shut down the surveillance system in an afternoon, but that's not my intention."
We eagerly await confirmation or a rejection that a 29-year old at an outside firm had the power he claims to have had.
Read the whole interview here >
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