Is Ed Snowden Trying to Take Control of the Next Wave of NSA Leaks?

Is Ed Snowden Trying to Take Control of the Next Wave of NSA Leaks?

After five straight days of revelations, a three-day gap in new NSA leaks from The Guardian and Glenn Greenwald seems like an eternity. The last major revelation from the paper was the identity of Edward Snowden himself, on Sunday. The reason for the delay isn't clear, but two other things are: There's more to come, and some of it — if not all — could come directly from Snowden, who re-emerged today.

RELATED: How the Washington Post Lost the PRISM Exclusive

Greenwald has repeatedly indicated that there are more shoes still to drop. He told The New York Times that the former NSA contractor "turned over archives of 'thousands' of documents," including "dozens" worth reporting on. Shortly after Snowden went public, Greenwald suggested that some of those dozens of documents would some come to light.

We'll be putting the focus back where it belongs very shortly: on the conduct of the US Government

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 10, 2013

As of Wednesday morning, The Guardian hasn't done so. The reason why may relate to how Snowden and the reporting outlets first began to interact.

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What we know about how the leaks to The Guardian and the Washington Post occurred comes from a series of articles, including that one in the Times, one in Salon, and another in the Post itself. (The Guardian has a tick-tock of sorts as well.) While the details differ — Greenwald declared the Poststory by Barton Gellman to be "false," for example — the basics are largely the same. Snowden reached out to Greenwald and Gellman some point earlier this year. Greenwald, deterred by the process of ensuring secure communications, delayed his interactions with Snowden. Gellman claims that Snowden went back to Greenwald after the Post balked on sharing a key document in its entirety.

Snowden asked for a guarantee that The Washington Post would publish — within 72 hours — the full text of a PowerPoint presentation describing PRISM, a top-secret surveillance program that gathered intelligence from Microsoft, Facebook, Google and other Silicon Valley giants. He also asked that The Post publish online a cryptographic key that he could use to prove to a foreign embassy that he was the document’s source.

I told him we would not make any guarantee about what we published or when.

This is a very interesting interaction, into which it's easy to read a lot given the events of this morning. Snowden, who remains in Hong Kong, conducted an extensive interview today with theSouth China Morning Post. By going public, Snowden can now attract broad media attention himself, without the filter of the Post or The Guardian. It's not clear if Snowden still has the documents he gave to those outlets, but there's no reason to think that he doesn't.

RELATED: Where in the World Is Edward Snowden?

In light of that, it's interesting to note a CBS report that the Washington Post may still be in talks with the government about the possibility of releasing more of the PRISM slides.

"So there’s a 41-slide deck," [CBS' John] Miller said. "The Washington Post has four—we’ve seen those in the paper. The Guardian has published some different slides and some the same. But there’s the wildcard of what’s in the rest of that presentation. The Washington Post has run that by the U.S. government and said, 'What in here could do damage? To be responsible, we still have to cover the story, but what would do damage that we would be asked to hold back?' And that conversation goes on, less so with The Guardian."

This is a vague assertion by Miller. But it suggests two things: that the government asked the outlets not to publish the full deck originally, and that the outlets are still seeking to do so. There is news value in the full deck, of course. But there may also still be negotiation value with Snowden, particularly if those thousands of documents he has remain solely in his possession.

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In a longer version of the Morning Post interview, Snowden says:

“People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality,” Snowden told the Post earlier today.

So far those revelations have been moderated by news outlets. It's not clear why they'd need to be from this point forward. If he wanted to post the full PRISM slide deck at this point, he could.

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Snowden clearly feels some level of comfort. He plans to stay in Hong Kong until "he is asked to leave," he says, and feels enough personal security to grant interviews with local media. (It's not clear if today's interview was conducted in person or by telephone.) As a lawyer interviewed by theMorning Post notes, his public profile makes it harder for the United States to step in. On Sunday, for example, Hong Kong residents will hold a march in support of Snowden.

In a few hours, we may see another big revelation from The Guardian or even the Morning Post. (We're reaching out to Greenwald for comment.) Or it's possible that there isn't much left, that the "dozens" of newsworthy items aren't that newsworthy after all. It is also possible that Snowden's revelations can now exist without having to originate in the mainstream media. If the Post or The Guardian won't or can't release the files in the way Snowden wants, he has all of the platform he needs to do it himself.

Photo: Snowden appears on a television screen in Hong Kong. (AP)

Switzerland Questions U.S. Over CIA Drunk Driving Gambit

The Swiss government has formally asked the U.S. for "clarification" on a claim from alleged NSAleaker Edward Snowden that CIA agents in Geneva pushed a banker to drink and drive as part of a dangerous recruitment ploy.

Snowden, the man who claims to have given top secret documents on the National Security Agency's vast surveillance programs to two major newspapers, briefly discusses the scheme in an interview with the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, saying it was a "formative" moment that led him to question the "rightness" of U.S. intelligence.

In an attempt to learn secret financial information, Snowden alleged that undercover CIA agents would get the banker drunk and "encourage" him to drive home in his car. When the banker was eventually arrested for drunk driving, the CIA operatives offered to help him out of the jam, paving the way for recruitment as a source.

"Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world," Snowden told The Guardian. "I realized that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good."

A spokesperson for Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told ABC News the department had "taken note" of Snowden's claims and has sent a "diplomatic note" to the U.S. Embassy in Bern asking "for clarification of the matter."

"In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Switzerland expects the members of the diplomatic missions in Bern and the members of the permanent mission in Geneva to comply with the laws and rules of the country of residence," a statement from the foreign ministry read.

At the time of the alleged incident, Snowden said he was working undercover for the CIA in Geneva maintaining computer network security. The CIA has declined to comment on Snowden's case, but the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed that he publicly held the position of "an attaché" with the permanent U.S. mission to the United Nations in Geneva from March 2007 to February 2009. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this report.

Snowden said he left the CIA in 2009 to work in the private sector for Dell and then with the technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He had only been working for Booz as a contractor at an NSA facility in Hawaii for a few months when he skipped town for Hong Kong, allegedly taking secret NSA documents that he said revealed the U.S. government's "horrifying" surveillance capability.

Snowden has not been seen since he checked out of a Hong Kong hotel room earlier this week, but today an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post, published a preview of a new interview the paper said they conducted with Snowden. In the preview, Snowden addresses the raging debate over whether he is a hero or a traitor for his actions. He said the answer is neither, but rather, "I'm an American."

Snowden told the Hong Kong newspaper he has no plans to leave.

"People who think I made a mistake in picking Hong Kong as a location misunderstand my intentions," he said. "I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality… My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate."

READ: U.S. Prepares Charges Against Alleged NSA Leaker, Sources Say

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Syrian rebels press US and allies to send weapons

BEIRUT (AP) — With President Barack Obama weighing the issue, increasingly desperate Syrian rebels are pressing the U.S. and its allies to send weapons to even their odds now that Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah guerrillas are fighting alongside the regime.

The U.S. and its allies so far have refused to send lethal aid to the rebels in part because of fears that the arms could fall into the hands of Sunni extremist groups that have joined the fight against President Bashar Assad.

Moderate opposition leaders have stepped up efforts to turn that argument around, saying Western inaction will deal a blow to their leadership and let al-Qaida-linked militants take the forefront in the rebellion or hand victory to Iran and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group. They're hoping the newly visible role of Hezbollah and the fall of the strategic town of Qusair to regime forces will spur the U.S. and other countries to send weapons.

Ahmed Ramadan, a member of the main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said the failure to supply weapons and ammunition to moderate forces within the rebels' Free Syrian army will let radical forces take the lead.

"Who is the U.S. denying weapons to? Everyone," he said. "This punishes the moderate forces, not the radical ones, because the radical forces continue to find armament through their own means," he said.

The Obama administration has been alarmed by the Assad regime's rapid military advances, but U.S. officials said those closest to the president are still split on whether to begin providing Syria's armed opposition with weapons or to consider more drastic steps such as using U.S. airpower to ground Assad's gunships and jets. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on private talks being held Wednesday on the issue.

Burhan Ghalioun, a prominent Paris-based Syrian opposition leader, said he and his comrades have been trying to convince U.S. officials that it's time to put an end to the tragedy in Syria by empowering moderate rebels. He warned an Assad victory also would mean more sway in Syria for Hezbollah and its Iranian backers.

"The U.S. now faces a real test that has to do with its credibility," he said in a telephone interview. "Are they going to let Syria become an Iranian protectorate? This is what it boils down to," he said.

"Their hesitation and reluctance is prolonging the war and giving false illusions that Bashar Assad can win the war," he added.

Opposition leaders stepped up their outreach after the fall of Qusair, a key western town near the border with Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters openly joined the fight in Qusair, helping propel Assad's forces to victory. The group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has vowed to fight to help secure a victory for the Syrian regime.

Gen. Salim Idris, the main rebel military commander in the Free Syrian Army, has repeatedly pleaded for Western anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, saying the rebels' weapons were no match for the Syrian regime's modern tanks and warplanes.

Any military assistance to the rebels would likely be funneled through Idris' council, according to U.S. officials.

Syrians complain that by denying Idris the weapons, the West has effectively undermined the commander's authority on the ground.

"Rebel loyalty is going to be with whoever is providing them with the guns and ammunition, and so far it's not Idris who is doing that," said Amr Al Azm, a U.S.-based Syrian activist and professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio.

Bassam al-Dada, an official with the Free Syrian Army, expressed skepticism that the U.S. would start providing weapons, and said even if it does the amount is unlikely to be sufficient to change the situation on the ground.

"If it happens, it will likely be small, insignificant aid that will in fact create problems between the military leadership and the rebels on the ground, who will think weapons were coming in when in fact they are not," he said.

Zeineddine al-Shami, a media coordinator for the First Brigade in the Free Syrian Army in Damascus, said radical groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra represent a small percentage of the fighters on the ground but their impact has been felt because of tactics, including suicide bombings.

"We won't need (suicide bombers) if we have artillery or rockets" or more sophisticated weaponry," he said. "If we don't, the spirit of Nusra will prevail."

___

Air attack video given to WikiLeaks could help enemy - witness

Southern Baptists condemn Boy Scouts policy on gays

By Amanda Orr

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to voice opposition to the Boy Scouts of America decision to admit gay members, saying that homosexual conduct is contrary to a scout's oath to do his duty to God.

The Southern Baptists, the nation's largest protestant denomination, approved a non-binding resolution expressing opposition to the policy at its annual convention in Houston. The resolution requires no action by member churches, with churches left to decide individually whether to stop sponsoring scout troops.

Some other U.S. religious leaders are severing their relationships with the Boy Scouts of America, saying they will no longer permit scout troops to meet at their churches.

The Boy Scouts has deep ties to churches all over the country, with about 70 percent of the group's more than 100,000 units chartered by faith-based organizations.

Some 108,000 Boy Scouts in nearly 4,000 units are sponsored by Baptist churches, according to the Boy Scouts website.

It is "ungodly and unacceptable," for young boys to be exposed to homosexuality, Wes Taylor, pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Newport News, Virginia, said during the debate at the annual convention. "I am very sad to say that it seems as though (Boy Scouts) are moving away from the principles they were founded upon."

The Boy Scouts of America decided on May 23 that no youth may be denied membership based on sexual orientation alone. The organization still prohibits openly gay adult leaders.

Some of those attending the Southern Baptist conference said the denomination should embrace gay members of scouting, arguing that churches should seek to guide them toward a more Christian life.

One pastor argued that a young boy who claims to be gay is most likely the victim of abuse or otherwise needs guidance, and that the church or scouts should not abandon him.

"Such a boy needs our love," said Charlie Dale, pastor of the Indian Springs First Baptist Church in Indian Springs, Alabama. "So let's bring him in and show him what real Biblical manhood is about."

The Southern Baptist resolution urges churches that decide to continue with the Boy Scouts to work toward the reversal of the new membership policy and to advocate against any change in leadership and membership that "normalizes sexual conduct outside of the biblical standards."

The Southern Baptist Convention has more than 45,000 churches and church-type missions with nearly 16 million members nationwide, according to the group's website.

A representative from the Boy Scouts was not immediately available for comment on the resolution.

The resolution calls on churches that decide to sever ties with the Boy Scouts not to abandon their ministry to young boys and to consider expanding a "Royal Ambassadors" ministry, a Southern Baptist missionary organization to develop "godly young men."

The resolution also declares "our love in Christ for all young people regardless of their perceived sexual orientation."

Some religious organizations have accepted the Boy Scouts' new policy. The Mormon Church, the largest sponsor of scouting troops nationwide, with about 430,000 youth members, expressed support for permitting gay scouts. The United Methodist Church, the second-largest sponsor, also plans to continue its role in scouting.

The national scouting committee for the Catholic Church, the third-largest sponsor of scouting troops, has noted that the policy change on gay members does not take effect until next January, providing "adequate time to study its effects."

(Reporting by Amanda Orr; Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Karen Brooks, Greg McCune and Leslie Adler)