Former National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden said in an extensive interview that he did not being any classified NSA documents with him when he fled Hong Kong in June; Snowden became stuck in Russia with no travel documents and eventually received asylum after a month stuck at Sheremetyevo International Airport, according to the New York Times.
There has been speculation that Snowden may have given classified materials to the Russians in exchange for receiving asylum. Snowden says that he gave all of classified documents he had obtained to journalists in Hong Kong before making the trip through Russia, according to the New York Times.
"What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the materials onward?" Snowden said. "There's a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents."
Snowden has been charged with espionage and is unable to return to the United States, or many other countries that have extradition treaties with the United States, and was attempting to flee to South America when he ended up in Russia. Snowden has continually said that he believes that he is a whistleblower by exposing the NSA's surveillance program, according to the Associated Press.
During an extensive interview with the New York Times that was conducted over encrypted email Snowden said that he wasn't bothered by the surveillance tactics used by the NSA nearly as much as he was troubled that the program was kept secret form the public.
"So long as there's broad support amongst a people, it can be argued there's a level of legitimacy even to the most invasive and morally wrong program, as it was an informed and willing decision," Snowden said. "However, programs that are implemented in secret, out of public oversight, lack that legitimacy, and that's a problem. It also represents a dangerous normalization of 'governing in the dark,' where decisions with enormous public impact occur without any public input."
Snowden did not give any details about his living circumstances in Russia but did say that he was allowed to move around freely and that the Russian government was not controlling his actions. The former NSA contractor also told the New York Times that he was surprised by the amount of publicity the leaks have generated.
