According to a new report by The Guardian, the American government has paid “at least £100 million [$152 million] to the UK spy agency GCHQ [Government Communications Headquarters] over the last three years to secure access to and influence over Britain's intelligence gathering programs.”

The Guardian wrote on Thursday that Edward Snowden provided documents showing that the National Security Agency (NSA) paid around $152 million to its British sister spy agency, the GCHQ, since 2010. "GCHQ must pull its weight and be seen to pull its weight," a GCHQ strategy briefing reportedly said.

Many intelligence community watchers have long suspected that British and American intelligence simply swap information as a way to skirt each other’s mandate to not spy on their own citizens domestically. The newspaper also said that the GCHQ has efforts underway to "exploit any phone, anywhere, any time,” and that “60 percent of all Britain’s refined intelligence appears to come from the NSA.”

As The Guardian reported: