A former CIA worker is taking credit for exposing the NSA’s PRISM program. NSA leaker reveals his identity

The former CIA employee who leaked details about classified secret surveillance programs to The Guardian and The Washington Post revealed himself in a story published Sunday, saying that he has no apologies for his actions.

Edward Snowden, 29, told The Guardian that he wanted his identity made public.


“I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he said.

Snowden, who told the papers that he is at a hotel in Hong Kong, said he intends to seek asylum outside the United States.

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“I intend to ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimization of global privacy,” Snowden told the Post.

Snowden is taking credit for leaking documents exposing both the National Security Agency’s PRISM program, which gathers electronic communications data from companies like Facebook and Google, and a government program designed to track every phone call made within or from the United States.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged the existence of PRISM in a statement Saturday. Clapper reiterated President Barack Obama’s stance that Congress has been regularly briefed about the programs and approved the laws that allowed their creation.

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His office referred questions about Snowden to the Justice Department and said in a statement that “the Intelligence Community is currently reviewing the damage that has been done by these recent disclosures. Any person who has a security clearance knows that he or she has an obligation to protect classified information and abide by the law.”

Several hours later, Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said the department “is in the initial stages of an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by an individual with authorized access.” But, she said, “consistent with longstanding department policy and procedure and in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, we must decline further comment.”

A White House spokesman declined to comment Sunday on Snowden’s emergence.

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Snowden, who is currently an employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton attached to the National Security Agency, said he has been holed up in secret at a Hong Kong hotel since taking medical leave from his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii in late May.

Booz Allen said Sunday night that Snowden had been an employee for less than three months. “News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm,” the company said in a statement. “We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.”

Snowden told The Guardian that he has gone to great lengths to maintain his digital privacy, going so far as to keep pillows under his door frame to interfere with listening devices and maintain a hood over his computer when entering passwords to block any hidden cameras.

“I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions,” he told the paper. “I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.”

Obama on Friday said the leaks for which Snowden is taking credit are detrimental to the country’s national security.

“I don’t welcome leaks, because there’s a reason why these programs are classified,” Obama said in San Jose, Calif. “If every step that we’re taking to try to prevent a terrorist act is on the front page of the newspapers or on television, then presumably the people who are trying to do us harm are going to be able to get around our preventive measures.”

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called Sunday for Snowden’s prosecution.

“If Edward Snowden did in fact leak the NSA data as he claims, the United States government must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin extradition proceedings at the earliest date,” King said in a statement. “The United States must make it clear that no country should be granting this individual asylum. This is a matter of extraordinary consequence to American intelligence.”

Snowden, according to The Guardian, copied a series of NSA documents from a Hawaii office where he worked until late May, when he requested leave to receive treatment for epilepsy and flew to Hong Kong.

Snowden’s self-revelation comes a day after Obama concluded a two-day summit in southern California with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to The Guardian, Snowden was raised in North Carolina and suburban Maryland. The paper reported that he never completed high school, yet was able to enter a U.S. Army Special Forces training program in order to fight in the Iraq war. The paper said he later received a GED.

The Guardian reported that Snowden was discharged from the Army after breaking his legs in a training accident. Then, the paper said, he joined the NSA, where, it reported, his “understanding of the Internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma.”

Jennifer Epstein contributed to this report.