Spy Whistleblower Comes Forward, Says “NSA Routinely Lies”

The NSA whistleblower who exposed America’s massive spying operation has come out and taken an interview with the leak reporter, The Guardian‘s Glenn Greenwald. “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife’s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards,” he said, in an interview taped in Hong Kong.

Edward Snowden, 29, who has claimed he has worked with the National Security Agency, admits he never expects to see home again, but said, “I don’t want to live in a society that does these sorts of things.”

In response to officials downplaying the NSA’s targeting capability, “the NSA routinely lies in response to congressional inquiries about the scope of surveillance in America.”

Snowden argues that the institutional culture of the NSA has a sort of self-righteous attitude on national security: “Whenever we had a debate in the office on how to handle crimes, they do not defend due process – they defend decisive action.”

As for Snowden himself, “The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me,” noting that he might jet off to Iceland in the hopes of finding a place that will protect him.

The full, fascinating interview is on The Guardian here.