People keep saying this, but I've never seen any evidence provided... he was flying from Hong Kong to South America through Moscow, because none of those nations were likely to interfere on behalf of America. His passport was pulled while he was in Moscow, preventing him from boarding his flight. Russia saw more value in keeping him as a potential bargaining chip than in killing him or returning him, so he's still in Moscow. None of this, AFAIK, has been refuted by anyone that could meaningfully refute it.
What am I missing? If he had intended to end in Russia, you can be damn sure the USG would have publicly refuted the notion that they'd pulled his passport.
There's a very interesting "Cuba Document"[1] that hints at something else happening in the background of 2013;
On April 4th, the head of the Russian FSB in Cuba traveled to Ecuador and met with Ecuadoran intelligence agents to "address issues of bilateral cooperation". Notes from this meeting and the credentials of the Russian team ended up in a file marked "Assange" at the Ecuadoran embassy in London.
On April 5th, Snowden sent his only email about his concerns to the NSA. Through the rest of the month, he starts downloading all of the documents.
In Mid-May, he flees to Hong Kong with the documents he's exfiltrated. In June, he flies to Moscow using an Ecuadorean travel document, where he plans to connect on a flight to Cuba.
After US pressure, Cuba and Ecuador both agreed not to grant him asylum, but it's suspicious that a note detailing Cuban FSB agents meeting with Ecuadorean reps ends up in Julian Assange's file on the day before Snowden starts his exfil op.
Sorry, can someone clarify this for someone not very well versed in this case? What's FSB, and what's the implication from that evidence? That Snowden is a spy?
FSB is Russian Intelligence -- The successor to the KGB. The 'Cuban' bit is important too. Russia has agents in South America, including in Ecuador, the presence of the head of the Cuban division in Quito likely points to some sort of op involving Cuba.
> And what's the implication from that evidence? That Snowden is a spy?
Some people think that, I don't think you can draw that conclusion at all from just one meeting. It merely hints that the Russians had advanced knowledge that Snowden would be traveling through Moscow en route to Cuba, likely due to Assange. It also hints that they knew Snowden would be stealing troves of documents from the NSA before he actually stole the documents.
From there you have to guess their motivation to assist him. Were they doing so as part of a quid pro quo? Were they doing so to 'poke' America and annoy our intelligence agencies? Did they plan to take all of Snowden's intel when he was in the Russian airport? Motivation is hard to assess but it changes the story fairly significantly if Snowden's travel plans involved two hostile superpowers and were arranged with their consent before he had taken a single document or even filed his complaint about the NSA's process.
Do you have any links to reporting on this document or associated implications? I can't find any, even if I search for exact phrases from this document.
People have asked various representatives but short of an admission by one of the involved parties or US intelligence agencies detailing what they know, I don't think there's a good way to do any additional research.
He flew to Hong Kong and hoped to stay there. The Chinese government kicked him out after he had already given the South China Morning Post a list of Chinese computer systems compromised by the NSA and when they were compromised. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1266777/exclusive...
What if Snowden intended to end in Russia and has been an agent for a long time? I fail to see the logic that USG would have publicly refuted the notion that they'd pulled his passport. Please illuminate.
What am I missing? If he had intended to end in Russia, you can be damn sure the USG would have publicly refuted the notion that they'd pulled his passport.