Snowden: NSA Is Most Dangerous Because No Oversight Exists

“There’s a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents.”

That’s what NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, referring to a huge trove of classified files he has made available to select journalists in the name of the “public interest,” told the New York Times during an online interview that took place this month and was published late Thursday.

Acccording to the exchange, which was carried out over encrypted email, Snowden says that he relinquished his own copies of the NSA documents before he left Hong Kong for China back in June.

“If the highest officials in government can break the law without fearing punishment or even any repercussions at all, secret powers become tremendously dangerous.” –Edward Snowden

“What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the materials onward?” he said to the Times.

Whether or not Snowden’s efforts to evade capture and imprisonment by the U.S. government had resulted in either the Russian or Chinese intelligence services obtaining the files has been a point of contention since he first went public as the source of the files, but this is the first time he has explain the confidence with which he asserts that the files have not been compromised.

According to the Times:

Among the various topics covered in the interview, Snowden speaks specifically to the argument made by some that he could have played the role of whistleblower by following internal protocols and making his concerns known to his superiors at the NSA. According to Snowden, those complaints would have go nowhere fast. Again, from the Times:

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