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Ex-Homeland Chief Napolitano: No Mercy for Edward Snowden

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Dos Equis: Good.  I hope he lives the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.  Ex-Homeland Chief Napolitano: No Mercy for Edward Snowden Sunday, 05 Jan 2014 By Newsmax Wires Former NSA leaker Edward Snowden should not receive amnesty of any type because of the profound damage he did to the United States, says former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In an interview to be broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,’’ Napolitano said she strongly disagreed with The New York Times and Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which have argued that the United States should welcome him back with open arms because of the debate on national security that his theft provoked. “I think Snowden has exacted quite a bit of damage and did it in a way that violated the law,” Napolitano said. “I think he’s committed crimes and I think that the damage we’ll see now and we’ll see it for years to come.”   The New York Times wrote in a Jan. 1 editorial that Snowden deserved “some form of clemency” or sharply reduced charges because he had essentially served as a whistle-blower to government abuse of its anti-terrorism surveillance powers. Napolitano will lead a U.S. delegation to Russia for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Two bomb attacks last month in Russia raised fears that terrorists will target the games. Russian authorities have said they are deploying 30,000 police officers in and around the Olympic site. Some analysts have suggested that could leave other areas vulnerable. Napolitano said she shared that concern, and that the U.S. would work with Russia and the International Olympic Committee “as closely as we can” to ensure the safety of the games. Muslim separatist groups are the leading suspects in the two suicide bombings in the southern Russian city of Volgograd that killed more than 30 people. Sochi is located on the Black Sea, about 435 miles (700 kilometers) southwest of Volgograd. The U.S. delegation Napolitano is leading includes prominent American lesbian and gay athletes, including tennis player Billie Jean King and figure skater Brian Boitano. Russia has faced criticism for adopting anti-gay laws. Napolitano said the makeup of the delegation was designed to “demonstrate that the United States is a very free and open and tolerant society.” http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/napolitano-no-clemency-snowden/2014/01/05/id/545249#ixzz2pkC6pd4m

Dos Equis: Exclusive: Snowden Swiped Password From NSA Coworker BY MICHAEL ISIKOFF A civilian NSA employee recently resigned after being stripped of his security clearance for allowing former agency contractor Edward Snowden to use his personal log-in credentials to access classified information, according to an agency memo obtained by NBC News. In addition, an active duty member of the U.S. military and a contractor have been barred from accessing National Security Agency facilities after they were “implicated” in actions that may have aided Snowden, the memo states. Their status is now being reviewed by their employers, the memo says. The Feb. 10 memo, sent to congressional intelligence and judiciary committees this week, provides the first official account of a sweeping NSA internal inquiry aimed at identifying intelligence officials and contractors who may been responsible for one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. history. The memo is unclassified but labeled “for official use only.” "Unbeknownst to the civilian, Mr. Snowden was able to capture the password, allowing him even greater access to classified information.” While the memo’s account is sketchy, it suggests that, contrary to Snowden’s statements, he used an element of trickery to retrieve his trove of tens of thousands of classified documents: “At Snowden’s request,” the civilian NSA employee, who is not identified by name, entered his password onto Snowden’s computer terminal, the memo states. “Unbeknownst to the civilian, Mr. Snowden was able to capture the password, allowing him even greater access to classified information,” the memo states. The memo states that the civilian employee was unaware that Snowden “intended to unlawfully disclose classified information.” Nevertheless, by sharing with Snowden his personal “public key infrastructure” certificate -- a system of highly secure credentials that provided greater access to NSA’s internal computer system -- the employee “failed to comply with security obligations,” the memo states. As a result, the employee’s security clearance was revoked in November and the NSA has notified the Justice Department that he recently resigned. (A public key infrastructure certificate is a highly secure system of password and log-in exchanges designed to protect against unauthorized access to sensitive computer networks.) The memo does not explain what actions the U.S. military member and the contractor took that caused them to lose their access to NSA facilities. "Has anybody been disciplined at NSA for dropping the ball so badly?” The Feb. 10 memo was signed by Ethan Bauman, the NSA’s director of legislative affairs. It was sent to the congressional committees after repeated questions from senior members about whether the NSA intended to hold any of its employees accountable for the security lapses that enable Snowden to gain access to massive volumes of classified documents that he later leaked to the news media “Has anybody been disciplined at NSA for dropping the ball so badly?” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., demanded of NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander at a Dec. 11 hearing. Alexander at the time replied that the agency had three “cases” that “we’re currently reviewing.” (An NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines declined comment Wednesday night, writing in an email: “I don’t have anything for your story.”) The question of how Snowden was able to obtain as much classified material as he did while working at a remote NSA station in Hawaii has been the subject of intensive investigation by the U.S. intelligence community for months. Reuters reporters Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel reported in November that Snowden used login credential and passwords provided “unwittingly” by colleagues at the Hawaii spy base. The Reuters report said Snowden “may have persuaded between 20 and 25 fellow workers” to give him their passwords. But the NSA never publicly commented on that report and Snowden appeared to deny it during a public Google chat on Jan. 23. “Was the privacy of your co-workers considered while you were stealing their log-in and password information?” Snowden was asked during the chat. “With all due respect to Mark Hosenball, the Reuters report that put this out there was simply wrong,” Snowden replied. “I never stole any passwords, nor did I trick an army of co-workers.” Ben Wizner, a lawyer for the ACLU who represents Snowden, did not immediately respond to phone and email requests for comment. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/exclusive-snowden-swiped-password-nsa-coworker-n29006

Soul Crusher: --- Quote from: tu_holmes on February 14, 2014, 10:32:19 AM ---So he did to the NSA what the NSA does to you, and he's the bad guy. I get it. --- End quote ---  ;D Personally - I don't have a problem with what he did.  The govt spying on its citizens and lying about it?  Breaking the 4th amendment, putting us into an Orwellian state of feasr over the police state and snowden is the enemy?

Shockwave: --- Quote from: tu_holmes on February 14, 2014, 01:29:38 PM ---I agree... It's our patriotic duty to keep our government in check. He's a damn patriot. --- End quote --- This. But the government spins it and uses the troops as leverage and suddenly he's the enemy. A lot of my Marine friends said the same thing.. who cares if he puts us at risk, our job is to be at risk, our governments job is to protect the citizens rights and freedoms. It pisses me off that the government used the military as political leverage to turn the populous against this guy.

Roger Bacon: X 3 As free American citizens, the Federal Government is no friend of ours.

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