The Sam Adams Associates for Integrity presented in October former NSA employee and intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with the Integrity Award in Intelligence. The presentation of the award and a speech by Snowden were both recorded in Moscow, Russia. The footage was the first video taken of Snowden since he fled to Russia for political asylum. However, AP reports Snowden’s request for clemency made in early November to the U.S. government has been denied.
“The White House and the leaders of the congressional intelligence committees are rejecting former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's plea for clemency,” AP says. "Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Nov. 3 about the former systems-analyst-turned-fugitive who has temporary asylum in Russia. "He should return to the U.S. and face justice," Pfeiffer said when pressed about whether clemency was being discussed.
AP says Snowden made the plea in a letter given to a German politician and released No. 1. In his one-page typed letter, he asks for clemency for charges over allegedly leaking classified information about the NSA to the news media. "''Speaking the truth is not a crime," Snowden wrote.
Snowden's revelations, among them allegations that the U.S. has eavesdropped on allies including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have led to calls by allies to cease such spying and moves by Congress to overhaul U.S. surveillance laws and curb the agency's powers.
Jesselyn Radack, a former ethics adviser to the US Department of Justice, traveled to Moscow with Ray McGovern, Thomas Drake, and Coleen Rowley (all former intelligence and national security employees) to personally deliver the award to Snowden, who remains in Moscow after being granted political asylum from U.S. persecution in August. As described in an article written by Radack for “The Nation” magazine, the award is named after a former CIA analyst who was a contributor to military intelligence during the Vietnam War.
Radack cites that 60 percent of the U.S. supports his actions, according to recent polls, and commends him for his leaking activities. She wouldn't divulge his location fearing she would compromise his safety. U.S courts have charged Snowden for violating the espionage act in response to his multiple leaks of incriminating data, exposing NSA data mining and surveillance of the public.
Snowden, in a video clip posted on WikiLeaks captured his speech in Russia, stated that the programs “hurt our economy. They hurt our country.” According to the Associated Press, Snowden described the programs as a “dragnet mass surveillance that pits entire populations under sort of an eye that sees everything.”
Before leaving for Hong Kong, China, Snowden lived in Waipahu, a city on the island of Oahu. He worked for the NSA in Hawaii. According to Hawaii real estate agents, he left his home on May 1, leaving nothing behind.