Wednesday, August 06, 2014

New Leaker Disclosing US Secrets: Officials
Edward Snowden support rally in Hong Kong.

Wed Aug 6, 2014 12:3AM GMT
presstv.ir

The US government has concluded that there is a new leaker providing national security documents to journalists, officials say.

According to US broadcaster CNN, the government officials reached the conclusion after a news website called The Intercept, which has access to documents from surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden, published new revelations on Tuesday about the scope of the US terrorism watchlist.

The Intercept article focuses on the growth in US government databases of known or suspected terrorist names during the Obama administration.

The article cites documents prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center dated August 2013, which is after Snowden left the United States to avoid criminal charges.

The Intercept has been launched by Glenn Greenwald, who also published Snowden's leaks.

Greenwald has suggested there was another leaker. In July, he wrote on Twitter that the existence of a second leaker after Snowden “seems clear at this point.”

Snowden began leaking classified intelligence documents in June 2013, revealing the extent of the NSA's spying activities.

He revealed that the spy agency has been collecting the phone records of millions of Americans and foreign nationals as well as political leaders around the world.

Snowden fled his country to avoid espionage charges. In August 2013, Russia granted him asylum for one year.

Many regard Snowden as a whistleblower and a national hero for blowing the lid off the US government’s global surveillance operations.

Some analysts say that the existence of a potential second source means that Snowden may have inspired some of his former colleagues to reveal crucial information about the agency’s inimicable activities.

In a February interview, Greenwald said, "I definitely think it's fair to say that there are people who have been inspired by Edward Snowden's courage and by the great good and virtue that it has achieved."

He added, "I have no doubt there will be other sources inside the government who see extreme wrongdoing who are inspired by Edward Snowden."

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