The UK’s Independent newspaper published its first excusive story/a> on the NSA leaks, claiming that it is based upon “documents obtained from the NSA by Edward Snowden.” The story exposes the existence of a “secret” UK base in the Middle East.
But there’s a problem: Edward Snowden says he’s never talked the The Independent, and that this leak didn’t come from him. Through The Guardian’sGlenn Greenwald, he writes:
I have never spoken with, worked with, or provided any journalistic materials to the Independent. The journalists I have worked with have, at my request, been judicious and careful in ensuring that the only things disclosed are what the public should know but that does not place any person in danger. People at all levels of society up to and including the President of the United States have recognized the contribution of these careful disclosures to a necessary public debate, and we are proud of this record.
“It appears that the UK government is now seeking to create an appearance that the Guardian and Washington Post’s disclosures are harmful, and they are doing so by intentionally leaking harmful information to The Independent and attributing it to others. The UK government should explain the reasoning behind this decision to disclose information that, were it released by a private citizen, they would argue is a criminal act.”
The Independent’s Oliver Wright asserts that it “was not leaked or ‘duped,'” but offers no sourcing information for the story beyond what it has already claimed.
For the record: The Independent was not leaked or ‘duped’ into publishing today's front page story by the Government. @ggreenwald
— oliver wright (@oliver_wright) August 23, 2013
Greenwald: “Leaving aside the fact that the Independent article quotes an anonymous “senior Whitehall source”, nobody said they were “duped” into publishing anything. The question is: who provided them this document or the information in it? It clearly did not come from Snowden or any of the journalists with whom he has directly worked. “
1 Comment
Hi,
Snowden Denies He Is Source of New Leaks on UK Spy Base in Middle East.
“In the name of the game”. Mr. Assange said “there will be thousands
of Bradley Manning’s” which in deed seems to be the case and with so
many “secret documents” in the public domain we can expect News Papers
to find there character of information transfer. As well as the “Tom and Jerry” game with the so called officials.