Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kuzylina said that Snowden was officially sworn to become a Russian citizen on February 1, 2018, and obtained a Russian passport. Snowden’s wife is also applying for Russian citizenship.
According to CCTV news, on September 26, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree granting Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden, a former employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency and the US National Security Agency. The presidential decree has been published on the Russian State Legal Portal.
2065 438 03 18, 2005, Hannover, Germany, Snowden was interviewed in real time on the big screen. Source: Xinhua News Agency
It is understood that after obtaining Russian citizenship, Snowden wrote on social media on the 26th, "After being separated from our parents for many years, my wife and I do not want to be separated from our children. After After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family." He also said that he hoped that the outside world would respect the privacy of himself and his family.
In June 2013, Snowden exposed through the media the secret intelligence surveillance projects of the US National Security Agency, including a surveillance project code-named "Project Prism" that mainly targeted overseas targets. Afterwards, the U.S. government issued a wanted order for Snowden on charges of espionage, theft, and unauthorized disclosure of national defense and intelligence information.
In 2016, Snowden arrived in Russia to seek political asylum. He has since obtained temporary and permanent residence in Russia. On September 26 this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order granting Snowden Russian citizenship.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov told RIA Novosti that Russia granted Snowden Russian citizenship at his request.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Edward Snowden, a former employee of the US defense contractor, stated on social media 165438 on October 2, 2020 that he and his pregnant wife were applying for Russian citizenship, but they would still Retain U.S. citizenship.
Snowden wrote on Twitter: "After being separated from his parents for many years, my wife and I did not want to be separated from our son. Therefore, we decided to apply for dual citizenship of the United States and Russia during the border closure period."
It is understood that Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills, is also an American. It is believed that she began living with Snowden in Russia in 2014.
Former US President Donald Trump said in August 2020 that he would "consider" pardoning Snowden. In addition, in 2015, a petition asking then-US President Obama to pardon Snowden was rejected by the White House.
Extended reading:
Snowden obtained Russian citizenship, got married and had children in Russia, and earned an income of US$65,438 and 2,000.
According to reports from the Associated Press, BBC and The Guardian, on September 26, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order granting Russian citizenship to a number of people, including former U.S. Defense Department officials Contractor employee edward snowden.
Snowden himself
On September 27, Jixun reporters investigated and found that Snowden became known to the public for exposing the US National Security Agency’s secret intelligence surveillance program in 2013. Among them, the surveillance project code-named "Project Prism", which mainly targeted overseas targets, caused an uproar in the international community once it was exposed. After his passport was revoked by the United States, his applications for political asylum in many countries were rejected, and he fled overseas for nine years, Snowden finally obtained Russian citizenship.
Exposure of "Project Prism"
It is understood that "Project Prism" is a top-secret electronic surveillance program implemented by the US National Security Agency since 2007, including the collection of domestic private electronic data and surveillance foreign intelligence.
In 2013, Snowden traveled to Hong Kong after copying top-secret documents, and then disclosed the NSA’s secret intelligence surveillance projects, including Project Prism, to the Washington Post and the Guardian. .
According to reports, the documents publicly leaked by Snowden show how the "Prism Project" achieves in-depth surveillance of instant communications and existing materials, including any customers who use the services of participating companies outside the United States, or Any U.S. citizen communicating with foreign persons.
"Project Prism" is considered a highly confidential program and has a wide scope of surveillance. It allows the NSA and FBI to retrieve data directly from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple. The data that can be retrieved includes details of emails, video and voice conversations, movies, photos, text conversations, file transfers, login notifications and social networks. However, in the days following the leaks, the companies involved strenuously denied knowledge of or involvement in Project Prism, and denied that the U.S. government had direct access to their user data.
Snowden also exposed details of the U.S. secret intelligence budget and the extent of U.S. surveillance of foreign officials, including leaders of U.S. allies. Snowden said he disclosed the information because he believed "the U.S. intelligence community has gone too far and violated civil liberties."
In his 2019 book "Permanent Record," Snowden Said that after learning about these intelligence programs, he felt the extent to which the US government trampled on civil liberties. He didn't want to live in such a society, so he decided to take practical actions to oppose it.
Nine years of overseas flying
Public information shows that Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina in 1983. My grandfather was a Rear Admiral in the United States Coast Guard, my father was a Coast Guard Warrant Officer, my mother, Elizabeth, was an employee of the District Court of Maryland, and my sister is an attorney. Born into such a family, Snowden was exposed to it from an early age and expected to work for the federal government like his family.
In 2006, Snowden worked for the CIA and became a network security expert. After resigning in 2009, he became a contractor for Dell, managing computer systems for several government agencies. In March 2012, Dell assigned Snowden to Hawaii to serve as the chief technical expert for the National Security Agency's Information Sharing Office. On March 15, 2013, Snowden resigned from Dell and became an employee of a US defense contractor. There, he discovered secret intelligence surveillance programs, including Project Prism, and decided to find the media to make them public.
To avoid arrest, Snowden left the United States and took refuge in Hong Kong before leaking the documents.
On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Snowden had been charged with violating the 1917 Espionage Act and stealing government property. Subsequently, the State Department revoked his passport. Since then, the United States has issued a wanted order for Snowden on charges of espionage, theft and unauthorized disclosure of national defense and intelligence information.
On June 23, 2013, Snowden fled Hong Kong to Moscow. Because his passport was revoked, he was confined to the airport terminal, where he remained for more than a month.
It is understood that while on the run, Snowden applied for political asylum in 21 countries. But according to him, most countries rejected his application for political asylum due to pressure from the US government, especially then-Vice President Biden, on other governments.
Among them, the French Ministry of the Interior rejected Snowden’s application for political asylum after evaluating the law and his situation. Poland refused to process his asylum application because it did not comply with legal procedures. Brazil's foreign ministry said the government planned not to respond to Snowden's asylum request. Germany and India rejected Snowden's application outright, while Austria, Ecuador, Finland, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain said Snowden had to be in their territory to apply. 2014 165438 In October, Germany announced that Snowden had not renewed his previously rejected request and refused to provide asylum.
Russia later granted Snowden asylum. The initial residence visa was for one year and was extended several times.
June 5438 In October 2020, Snowden obtained permanent residence in Russia. June 2020, 165438 In October, Snowden stated on social media that he would apply for Russian citizenship. In September 2022, Snowden obtained Russian citizenship.
How much information we have remains a mystery.
According to reports, Snowden was charged in 2013 with unauthorized disclosure of U.S. national security and intelligence information and theft of government property, with each count punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The U.S. Justice Department also sued Snowden to prevent him from profiting from his memoirs, saying he violated confidentiality agreements with intelligence agencies.
In 2015, a petition asking then-US President Obama to pardon Snowden was rejected by the White House. In August 2020, then US President Trump stated in August 2020 that he would "consider" pardoning Snowden, but there was no follow-up.
Currently, it is unclear how much intelligence information Snowden has mastered and disclosed. However, Australian officials estimate there are 6,543,850 or more intelligence documents on Australia, and British officials estimate there are at least 58,000 British intelligence documents. The NSA initially estimated that Snowden copied between 50,000 and 200,000 NSA documents, but U.S. officials later estimated the total number at 17,000.
Snowden is married and has children.
Over the years, Snowden got married and had children in Russia, and earned a lot of income from books and online speeches. In August 2020, a court document filed by the U.S. Department of Justice showed that since 2013, in addition to book advances, Snowden has received more than $65,438 in lecture fees.
In September 2021, Yahoo Finance reported that between September 2015 and May 2020, Snowden made more than $65,438 in profit from 67 speeches delivered through video links. . Among them, in March 2021, Iowa State University paid him US$35,000 for an online speech, and in February 2017, the University of Pittsburgh paid US$15,000 for his speech.
On Monday local time, the White House submitted information about Snowden’s citizenship to the Department of Justice, marking “pending criminal charges.” For years, U.S. authorities wanted him to return to the United States to face a criminal trial.