Was Snowden a Russian Agent?

>I think there's a difference between what really motivated him to leak & what he's leaked out of self-preservation

Glenn Greenwald - https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/352213748917874688

I always come back to this Tweet when this subject comes up. Like the article suggests, it isn't a matter of if Snowden was compromised but when. I would like to think it was after he was stranded in Russia with no hope. That might explain his later actions but I don't think it can ever justify them. If even Greenwald thinks Snowden has "leaked out of self-preservation", I find it hard to support the narrative of a whistleblowing American hero who deserves a pardon.

> "On June 10, 2013, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described Mr. Snowden’s theft of documents as “an act of treason.” A former member of President Obama’s cabinet went even further, suggesting to me off the record in March this year that there are only three possible explanations for the Snowden heist: 1) It was a Russian espionage operation; 2) It was a Chinese espionage operation, or 3) It was a joint Sino-Russian operation."

The problem with this is you are taking the word of people who:

A) Genuinely and honestly believe that their domestic surveillance apparatus is legitimate.

B) The bias from A has resulted in a true lack of introspection on any real level that what they are doing with A might be viewed as "wrong" by an American citizen.

Once you realize that and realize almost everyone who is used to support that narrative is from the same pool of pro-Domestic-Surveillance folks, it isn't hard to realize their beliefs are likely an outcome of their biases rather than an observation of objective fact.

The truth is we are not going to know until/unless the FSB ever declassifies their debriefing attempt(s) in regards to Edward Snowden. If the intelligence community truly possessed a smoking gun in regards to Edward Snowden, even if it compromised a valuable source or sources, it would be worth using it to terminate the political threat and scrutiny of their operations. The fact they have not means nothing they have on Snowden is conclusive. In other words, no one in the US (or its allies) really knows if Snowden is a foreign agent (or not).

Ultimately, at this point, the fallout appears to be effectively 0 and there will be an expansion of domestic surveillance powers whenever something 'bad' happens. Regardless of the legitimacy of the tool, the fact they are unable to protect it appropriately means its as dangerous to them as it is to us and they are simply too naive to realize it.

If Snowden basically handed it all over to Russia because the US revoked his passport while he was in a Russian airport, the US is the ultimate cause of the event by their choice of timing.

"those who hold darker views about Snowden include lawmakers and officials who “base it on classified reports” and “have been at least partially briefed” about the NSA’s investigation. "

I only skipped the article, but this seems to be the main content and vague rumors around. People who have been caught lying over and over again, are now a trustworthy source for anything?

Greenwald knows more about it than either you or I do and I don't see much vagueness in the quote. Who does Snowden need preservation from? The two current options are the US and Russia with the Chinese having temporary influence over him immediately after the leak. The logical conclusion is that some of the information Snowden leaked was done to placate the US, Russia, or China. I think we can rule out the US considering Snowden is still living in exile and there seems to be little to no contact between him and the US government. That leaves China and Russia. Considering the time spent in both those countries, I think Russia is the more likely of the two. Greenwald seems to be implying that Snowden has leaked information in order to gain favor with Russia. Where is the flaw in this conclusion? What else could "leaked out of self-preservation" mean? Who else could he need self-preservation from?