MOSCOW, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told The Washington Post the impact of Edward Snowden’s leaks may have been exaggerated, as the NSA whistleblower had not taken as many secret files as originally feared.
“We’re still investigating, but we think that a lot of what he looked at, he couldn’t pull down,” Clapper said in an interview published on Friday. “Some things we thought he got, he apparently didn’t.” According to Clapper, even if Snowden did not pull as many files as previously believed the impact is still “profound.”
In an attempt to assess the damage caused by Snowden, the US intelligence community divided the material taken by the former NSA contractor into three parts.
The first part comprises 300 or so documents already published by news agencies across the globe. The second batch includes 200,000 documents believed to be handed over to the media. And the third division, the one “for which officials have lowered the threat assessment,” is the material feared to be taken by Snowden. Currently, there is no information about these files, which include 1.5 million documents, and not 1.77 million, as earlier suspected.
In June 2013, former NSA analyst Edward Snowden leaked a number of classified documents on the extensive electronic surveillance programs conducted by the US government around the globe. The revelations published by world’s leading news agencies suggested America had been spying not only on its own citizens, but also on foreign leaders for years.
The incident sparked international outcry and has led to the deterioration of relations between the US and its allies.
The US accused Snowden of espionage and theft of government property. In August 2013, he received temporary asylum in Russia for one year, and has since announced he plans to apply for an extension of his asylum.
Over the past weeks, there has been a lot of talk of Snowden’s possible return to the US. Former White House spokesman Jay Carney announced earlier that a pardon for the ex-intelligence officer was not on the table. However, the Washington Post, quoting a senior official, said that the possibility remains. “If he came back and told everything he knows, then perhaps some accommodation could be reached,” the official said.
