HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019603.jpg
1.65 MB
Extraction Summary
6
People
6
Organizations
3
Locations
2
Events
3
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Book excerpt / house oversight committee record
File Size:
1.65 MB
Summary
This document is page 115 from a book titled 'The Great Divide' (likely by Alan Dershowitz, given the footer code 'Epst_' suggesting an Epstein-related legal production). The text discusses Edward Snowden, comparing the government's 'demonization' of him to the treatment of 1960s NSA defectors Martin and Mitchell. It details a 2014 Lawfare Institute analysis which argued that the majority of Snowden's leaks concerned overseas intelligence operations rather than domestic surveillance.
People (6)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Snowden | Former NSA contractor/Whistleblower |
Subject of the text; discussed regarding his leaks and government defamation.
|
| Glenn Greenwald | Journalist |
Journalist who recorded Snowden and received leaked documents.
|
| Laura Poitras | Filmmaker/Journalist |
Journalist who recorded Snowden and received leaked documents.
|
| William Martin | NSA Analyst (Former) |
Defected to Russia in the 1960s; used as a historical comparison to Snowden.
|
| Bernon Mitchell | NSA Analyst (Former) |
Defected to Russia in the 1960s; used as a historical comparison to Snowden.
|
| John Kerry | Secretary of State |
Characterized Snowden as a coward who should 'man up'.
|
Organizations (6)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| NSA |
National Security Agency; subject of leaks and historical defections.
|
|
| Lawfare Institute |
Nonprofit organization that analyzed Snowden's leaked documents in 2014.
|
|
| Brookings Institution |
Cooperated with Lawfare Institute on the analysis.
|
|
| The Guardian |
Newspaper that published Snowden documents.
|
|
| The Post |
Refers to The Washington Post; published Snowden documents.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Indicated by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019603'.
|
Timeline (2 events)
1960s
Defection of NSA analysts William Martin and Bernon Mitchell to Russia.
Russia/Moscow
2014
Locations (3)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Location where Snowden was recorded; location where Martin and Mitchell arrived.
|
|
|
Destination of defectors Martin and Mitchell.
|
|
|
Country Snowden fled; country Martin and Mitchell defected from.
|
Relationships (3)
Snowden gave documents to Greenwald for publication.
Snowden gave documents to Poitras for publication.
Defected to Russia together in the 1960s.
Key Quotes (4)
"They [Greenwald and Poitras] actually recorded me on camera saying this before I revealed my identity."Source
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Quote #1
"Secretary of State John Kerry characterized him as a coward who should 'man up' by returning to the United States."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019603.jpg
Quote #2
"U.S. government officials responded by putting out the story that they were homosexual lovers, which was both untrue and irrelevant"Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019603.jpg
Quote #3
"32 of Snowden's leaks to these journalists concerned the NSA's overseas sources and methods"Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019603.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,425 characters)
The Great Divide | 115
from Moscow, "They [Greenwald and Poitras] actually recorded me
on camera saying this before I revealed my identity." The purpose
of this demonization was to divert attention from the government's
own crimes.
To be sure, it is not unprecedented for the government to release
defamatory information about individuals who have embarrassed
U.S. intelligence by defecting. When two NSA analysts, William
Martin and Bernon Mitchell, defected to Russia in the 1960s and
accused the NSA of violating international law after arriving in
Moscow, U.S. government officials responded by putting out the
story that they were homosexual lovers, which was both untrue and
irrelevant to the intelligence secrets that they had compromised. It
is certainly possible that the government put out information to
intentionally defame Snowden. Secretary of State John Kerry char-
acterized him as a coward who should "man up" by returning to the
United States.
While one can discount such characterizations against Snowden
by government officials as demonization, as I do, one cannot as eas-
ily dismiss the independent evidence that undermines Snowden's
assertion that his sole motive was blowing the whistle on illicit sur-
veillance in the United States. For example, in 2014, the Lawfare
Institute, a nonprofit organization that publishes a blog on national
security concerns, in cooperation with the Brookings Institution,
did an independent analysis of all the published documents that
Snowden provided to the media. It concluded that with some notable
exceptions, such as the two documents initially published by The
Guardian and the Post, the now-famous FISA Verizon warrant and
the PRISM slides, few of the other documents that Snowden had
given Poitras and Greenwald for publication had anything to do
with either domestic surveillance or infringements on the privacy of
Americans. By the Lawfare Institute's count, 32 of Snowden's leaks
to these journalists concerned the NSA's overseas sources and meth-
ods, 9 identified overseas locations of the NSA's intelligence bases,
25 revealed the identities of foreign officials of interest to U.S. intel-
ligence agencies, 14 disclosed information about Internet companies
legally cooperating with the NSA, and 19 concerned technology
products that the NSA had been using or researching.
on camera saying this before I revealed my identity." The purpose
of this demonization was to divert attention from the government's
own crimes.
To be sure, it is not unprecedented for the government to release
defamatory information about individuals who have embarrassed
U.S. intelligence by defecting. When two NSA analysts, William
Martin and Bernon Mitchell, defected to Russia in the 1960s and
accused the NSA of violating international law after arriving in
Moscow, U.S. government officials responded by putting out the
story that they were homosexual lovers, which was both untrue and
irrelevant to the intelligence secrets that they had compromised. It
is certainly possible that the government put out information to
intentionally defame Snowden. Secretary of State John Kerry char-
acterized him as a coward who should "man up" by returning to the
United States.
While one can discount such characterizations against Snowden
by government officials as demonization, as I do, one cannot as eas-
ily dismiss the independent evidence that undermines Snowden's
assertion that his sole motive was blowing the whistle on illicit sur-
veillance in the United States. For example, in 2014, the Lawfare
Institute, a nonprofit organization that publishes a blog on national
security concerns, in cooperation with the Brookings Institution,
did an independent analysis of all the published documents that
Snowden provided to the media. It concluded that with some notable
exceptions, such as the two documents initially published by The
Guardian and the Post, the now-famous FISA Verizon warrant and
the PRISM slides, few of the other documents that Snowden had
given Poitras and Greenwald for publication had anything to do
with either domestic surveillance or infringements on the privacy of
Americans. By the Lawfare Institute's count, 32 of Snowden's leaks
to these journalists concerned the NSA's overseas sources and meth-
ods, 9 identified overseas locations of the NSA's intelligence bases,
25 revealed the identities of foreign officials of interest to U.S. intel-
ligence agencies, 14 disclosed information about Internet companies
legally cooperating with the NSA, and 19 concerned technology
products that the NSA had been using or researching.
Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 115 9/29/16 5:51 PM
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