"Did Snowden endanger Americans? Not according to the NSA. It has provided no evidence — zero — that Snowden turned any information over to Russia or China."
Based on the linked article it doesn't quite sound like this is a fair representation. The NSA report was heavily redacted so it's inconclusive (at least from the time of the article) if there were direct ties of harm to Americans. Personally, "common sense" would say among 1.5 million documents there is certainly a greater chance harm could have come to Americans from the leaks.
Whether that harm can be directly tied to Snowden's actions, the chain of custody on those documents was ruined the moment he stole them and shared with journalists. That action alone means more copies floating around which are ripe for stealing by nation state actors, so while he may not have needed to directly leak the originals it's not far-fetched to think the others who have seen them weren't as careful. Not to mention, if he still possesses those documents while living in Russia all this time, I find it hard to believe given their intelligence apparatus that they haven't acquired them by now.
I would agree that the motives provided as rationale for the leaks seem to be reaching really far into what is likely nothing. I'm curious how news agencies go about reviewing 1.5 million documents to ensure they can be certain about their conclusions though.
"Did Snowden endanger Americans? Not according to the NSA. It has provided no evidence — zero — that Snowden turned any information over to Russia or China."
Based on the linked article it doesn't quite sound like this is a fair representation. The NSA report was heavily redacted so it's inconclusive (at least from the time of the article) if there were direct ties of harm to Americans. Personally, "common sense" would say among 1.5 million documents there is certainly a greater chance harm could have come to Americans from the leaks.
Whether that harm can be directly tied to Snowden's actions, the chain of custody on those documents was ruined the moment he stole them and shared with journalists. That action alone means more copies floating around which are ripe for stealing by nation state actors, so while he may not have needed to directly leak the originals it's not far-fetched to think the others who have seen them weren't as careful. Not to mention, if he still possesses those documents while living in Russia all this time, I find it hard to believe given their intelligence apparatus that they haven't acquired them by now.
I would agree that the motives provided as rationale for the leaks seem to be reaching really far into what is likely nothing. I'm curious how news agencies go about reviewing 1.5 million documents to ensure they can be certain about their conclusions though.