Edward Snowden's Relationship With WikiLeaks

AdiGaia's picture

Amid calls for the clemency of Edward Snowden, many questions remain about the 30-year-old's flight from America and asylum in Russia.

One major unresolved issue is the relationship between "the most dangerous leaker in American history" and WikiLeaks, an organization with an admitted antagonism toward the U.S. and a cozy history with the Kremlin.

Given WikiLeaks'  penchant for facilitating U.S. government leaks, its early involvement in  the Snowden saga deserves scrutiny.

After the NSA contractor outed himself in Hong Kong on June 9, he parted ways with the journalists he met there and went underground.

On June 12, the same day he leaked specific details of NSA hacking in China to the South China Morning Post, Snowden contacted WikiLeaks. The organization subsequently paid for  his lodgings and sent top advisor Sarah Harrison to help.

Harrison accompanied Snowden as he met with Russian officials (perhaps in the Kremlin consulate), and WikiLeaks bought his ticket to Moscow on June 23.

( Some suspect  Russia and/or WikiLeaks contacted  Snowden before June 12, but there is no clear evidence of that.)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/edward-snowdens-relationship-wikileaks-con...