The naked truth: Snowden grilled on HBO
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden defended his decision to leak classified information to mainstream media outlets but spent most of his time fending off questions about naked pictures in an interview with comic John Oliver that aired Sunday night on HBO.
Oliver, who hosts Last Week Tonight, traveled to Moscow for the one-on-one with Snowden, a fugitive from U.S. justice. The interview began with Snowden defending his decision to release the information: "I did this to give the American people the chance to decide for themselves the kind of government they want to have," he said, repeating a theme he has stressed in interviews with news outlets.
"I was initially terrified that this would be a three-day news story," Snowden said. "When I saw everybody in the world said 'Whoa, this is a problem. We have to do something about this,' it felt like vindication."
The conversation quickly devolved to a discussion of obscene photos. In July, Snowden revealed that some analysts who monitored the texts and emails of millions of Americans would sometimes share intercepted nude photos and sex texts with colleagues.
That's what Oliver wanted to talk about. He pressed Snowden to explain how each surveillance program might allow the government to access naked pictures people might text, email or otherwise share. Snowden mostly brushed off the humorous inquiries.
"It's not actually seen as a big deal in the culture of the NSA because you see naked pictures all the time," Snowden said.
Oliver did put Snowden on the hot seat about some information Oliver said The New York Times displayed in a slide that made it "possible for people to see that something was being used in Mosul on al-Qaeda."
"That is a problem," Snowden replied.
Snowden, 31, was a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton when he leaked details of U.S. surveillance programs to The Guardian and The Washington Post. The first reports were published in June 2013, setting off a global firestorm. Snowden, who was in hiding in Hong Kong at the time, fled to Moscow.
The Guardian and Post won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for their coverage of Snowden. President Obama promised to scale back surveillance of American citizens. Germany ordered the CIA station chief out of the country.
Snowden has expressed interest in returning to the United States but says he fears an unjust trial on charges of espionage and theft of government property could result in a lengthy prison sentence.