Edward Snowden, the man behind the National Security Agency surveillance leaks, might have been backed by Russia, three top lawmakers in the United States said, Sunday.
During NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said that Snowden "was a thief who we believe had some help."
"I believe there was a reason he ended up in the loving arms of an FSB agent in Moscow," Rogers said. "I believe there are questions to be answered there. I don't think it was a gee-whiz luck event that he ended up in Moscow under the handling of the FSB."
Rogers' comments came in the backdrop of President Barack Obama's review of NSA's programs and possible reforms of surveillance practices, reported The Guardian. The privacy advocates, mainly telecom and tech companies, were disappointed by Obama's speech as it dished out little information on how the system was being reformed.
The congressman also said the information Snowden gathered from the NSA was not related to the privacy issues he talked about but rather the information collected could put the U.S. military at risk, reported The Washington Post.
Voicing similar thoughts, Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (D-Cali) said that Snowden's connection to Russia was a possibility. However, they were not sure at the moment. "He may well have. We don't know at this stage," Feinstein said.
Michael McCaul, chairman of House Homeland Security Chairman (R-Texas), said that he actually thought that Snowden might have been aided by a foreign power. "I personally believe that he was cultivated by a foreign power to do what he did," he said, reported the New York Daily News. "I don't think ... Mr. Snowden woke up one day and had the wherewithal to do this all by himself."
Snowden, who previously worked for the NSA on contract basis, is under temporary asylum in Russia since last August.
The revelations made by the 30-year-old whistleblower have dampened relations of the U.S. with countries such as Brazil and Germany. He accused the U.S. of spying on its allies. However, after Obama's Sunday speech banning spying on allies, Brazil welcomed the move, according to The Guardian. "It's a first step. The Brazilian government will monitor the practical ramifications of the speech very closely," President Dilma Rousseff's spokesman, Thomas Traumann, wrote on the president's official blog.
