JUSTICE DEPT. SUES SNOWDEN
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government filed a lawsuit Tuesday against former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, alleging he violated nondisclosure agreements by publishing a memoir without giving the government an opportunity to review it first.
The Justice Department is seeking to “recover all proceeds” from Snowden’s book, which was released Tuesday.
Snowden published his book, “Permanent Record,” without submitting it for a pre-publication review, in violation of non-disclosure agreements he signed with both the NSA and the Central Intelligence Agency, the Justice Department alleges.
In his memoir, Snowden tells his life story in detail for the first time and explains why he chose to risk his freedom to become perhaps the most famous whistleblower of all time. It offers an expansive account of how he came to reveal secret details about the government’s mass collection of emails, phone calls and Internet activity in the name of national security.
Snowden was charged under the U.S. Espionage Act. He now lives in Russia in order to avoid arrest.
“The United States’ ability to protect sensitive national security information depends on employees’ and contractors’ compliance with their non-disclosure agreements, including their prepublication review obligations,” Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said in a statement. “We will not permit individuals to enrich themselves, at the expense of the United States, without complying with their prepublication review obligations.”
In a tweet, Snowden said it is “hard to think of a greater stamp of authenticity than the US government filing a lawsuit claiming your book is so truthful that it was literally against the law to write.”
Snowden’s publisher, Macmillan, said in a statement that it was proud to publish Snowden’s “uncensored” story and disappointed that the government had decided to sue him.
The Justice Department is not attempting to limit the book’s distribution but is asking a federal judge to allow the government to collect all the proceeds from the book.
Snowden’s attorney, Ben Wizner, of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the book does not contain any secrets that haven’t previously been reported by news outlets.
“Had Mr. Snowden believed that the government would review his book in good faith, he would have submitted it for review. But the government continues to insist that facts that are known and discussed throughout the world are still somehow classified,” Wizner said in a statement.