As noted a few days ago in a diary by dweb8321, it seems that there is a coordinated effort underway by some members of Congress and so-called security experts to smear Edward Snowden as having coordinated with Russian intelligence on his revelations on the activities of the National Security Agency and its allies around the world.
Now, in a conversation with the venerable Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, published yesterday on the Newsdesk blog, Snowden responds to these allegations. I recommend reading the whole piece, a rare interview with a person who, despite easily tossed around allegations that he is a narcissist who is only seeking attention, has spent very little time talking to the press.
Regarding the allegation of Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press (discussed more here), Snowden said that he "clearly and unambiguously acted alone, with no assistance from anyone, much less a government." He went on to say:
"It won’t stick…. Because it’s clearly false, and the American people are smarter than politicians think they are."
Snowden went on to blame the media for amplifying these unsubstantiated allegations:
“It’s not the smears that mystify me,” Snowden told me. “It’s that outlets report statements that the speakers themselves admit are sheer speculation.” Snowden went on to poke fun at the range of allegations that have been made against him in the media without intelligence officials providing some kind of factual basis: “ ‘We don’t know if he had help from aliens.’ ‘You know, I have serious questions about whether he really exists.’ ”
Snowden went on, “It’s just amazing that these massive media institutions don’t have any sort of editorial position on this. I mean these are pretty serious allegations, you know?” He continued, “The media has a major role to play in American society, and they’re really abdicating their responsibility to hold power to account.”
Jane Mayer also points out in the article that, as the
New York Times reported, a senior official of the FBI stated that FBI itself has concluded that Snowden acted on his own, without the help of any foreign power. Of course, Rogers, Feinstein, and others pad their statements with weasel words (Feinstein: "He may well have." Rogers: "We just don't know...") but they're putting this story out there to sow doubt in the public's mind.
So, Snowden, if you're not working with the Russians, then why are you still in Moscow, huh? What do you have to say to that?
From Moscow, Snowden explained that “Russia was never intended” to be his place of asylum, but he “was stopped en route.” He said, “I was only transiting through Russia. I was ticketed for onward travel via Havana—a planeload of reporters documented the seat I was supposed to be in—but the State Department decided they wanted me in Moscow, and cancelled my passport.”
He points out, of course, that he would leave Russia if he could, but on the mere suspicion that Snowden might be on board, the US and European nations
forced down President Evo Morales of Bolivia's plane.
Kossack dweb8231 rightly called these latest smears against Snowden "a classic example of modern day McCarthyism." Defenders of the National Security Agency are throwing anything they can against Snowden to see if they can make it stick, no matter if they don't have a shred of evidence.