The decree signed by Putin covered 72 foreigners, but Snowden was the most prominent. Russia granted him asylum in 2013 after he fled the United States to avoid prosecution.
Edward Snowden, Who Exposed US Intelligence, Is Now Russian Citizen
September 26, 2022
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Edward Snowden, the former US intelligence contractor, who leaked extensive National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance operations of American citizens, was granted Russian citizenship Monday.
Snowden, 39, has been living in exile in Russia since 2013.
According to The BBC: Snowden, who faces espionage charges in the United States, has made no public comments. In 2020, the NSA surveillance of millions of Americans’ telephone records was ruled unlawful by the US Court of Appeals. Mr. Snowden said afterwards that he felt vindicated by the ruling.
Top US intelligence officials had publicly insisted the NSA had never knowingly collected data from private phone records, until Mr. Snowden exposed evidence to the contrary. Following the revelation, officials said the NSA’s surveillance program had played a crucial role in fighting domestic terrorism, including the convictions of Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud, Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh, of San Diego, for providing aid to al-Shabab militants in Somalia.
VICTORY! #NSA call tracking program revealed by #Snowden ruled illegal. We filed suit in 2013 https://t.co/CzRyRbJMpZ pic.twitter.com/Etptl4gb2A
— ACLU (@ACLU) May 7, 2015
In 2020, the US Court of Appeals ruled intelligence leaders who publicly defended the program lied. Snowden wrote on Twitter at the time:
“I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA’s activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them. And yet that day has arrived.”
Seven years ago, as the news declared I was being charged as a criminal for speaking the truth, I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA’s activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them.
And yet that day has arrived. https://t.co/FRdG2zUA4U
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 2, 2020
Snowden wrote on Twitter:
“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS. After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them—and for us all.”
After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS.
After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them—and for us all. https://t.co/24NUK21TAo pic.twitter.com/qLfp47uzZ4
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 26, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship on Monday to Edward Snowden, the former security consultant who leaked information about top-secret U.S. surveillance programs and is still wanted by Washington on espionage charges.
The 39-year-old Snowden, who considers himself a whistleblower, was granted permanent residency in Russia in 2020, and his lawyers said at the time that he was applying to obtain a Russian passport without renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the state-run news agency RIA Novosti on Monday that his wife, Lindsay Mills, is now applying for Russian citizenship. Mills joined Snowden in Moscow in 2014. They were married in 2017 and have a son together.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred questions about his new status to the prosecutors seeking his extradition. “Since I believe there have been criminal charges brought against him, we would point you to the Department of Justice for any specifics on this,” Jean-Pierre said.
Snowden’s disclosures, published first in The Washington Post and the Guardian, were arguably the biggest security breach in U.S. history. The information revealed top-secret NSA surveillance as part of a program known as PRISM and the extraction of a wide range of digital information.
Snowden explained his decision to seek dual citizenship on Twitter in 2020.
“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship,” he wrote.
“Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love — including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited,” he added.
James R. Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, acknowledged Monday that the bulk phone records collection that Snowden revealed was one program where disclosure was perhaps justified given its focus on Americans.
“But he exposed so much else that damaged foreign intelligence capabilities that had nothing to do with so-called domestic surveillance,” Clapper said. Moreover, “we don’t know what he’s exposed other than what’s been revealed in the media.”
Said Clapper: “What a great time to become a Russian citizen.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says Snowden is a patriot.
