Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower currently living under political asylum in Russia, has spoken out against the media for incorrectly portraying, whether intentionally or by accident, his current legal status.
Snowden is known to have been in contact with his father, Lon
Snowden, whose own legal team consists of attorney Bruce Fein and
Fein’s wife and spokeswoman, Mattie Fein. The public’s thirst for
the story, combined with Snowden’s dubious whereabouts in Russia,
has unleashed the media on Mr. Snowden and the Feins.
“It has come to my attention that news organizations seeking
information regarding my current situation have, due to the
difficulty in contacting me directly, been misled by individuals
associated with my father into printing false claims about my
situation,” Edward Snowden wrote in an email to the
Huffington Post.
Mattie Fein told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Lon
Snowden’s legal team did not trust the anti-government secrecy
group WikiLeaks or Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who
first published the classified NSA documents leaked by Snowden.
She claimed Greenwald has been trying to woo major media outlets
into paying over one million dollars for an exclusive interview
with the NSA leaker, an assertion Greenwald called
“defamatory.”
“I would like to correct the record,” Edward Snowden
wrote. “I’ve been fortunate to have legal advice from an
international team of some of the finest lawyers in the world,
and to work with journalists whose integrity and courage are
beyond question. There is no conflict amongst myself and any of
the individuals or organizations with whom I have been
involved.”
“Neither my father, his lawyer Bruce Fein, nor his wife Mattie
Fein represent me in any way,” Snowden’s letter continued.
“None of them have been or are involved in my current
situation, and this will not change in the future. I ask
journalists to understand that they do not possess any special
knowledge regarding my situation or future plans, and not to
exploit the tragic vacuum of my father’s emotional compromise for
the sake of tabloid news.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) confirmed to the
Huffington Post that the email is from Snowden. The ACLU is also
coordinating Snowden’s legal defense should he eventually return
to the US, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Snowden spoke directly to his father earlier this week for the
first time since fleeing the US. The relatives exchanged messages
via an encrypted Internet chat despite warnings from legal
counsel about the possibility the messages would be intercepted.
The elder Snowden has also received a Russian visa, saying he
plan on visiting his son soon.
Republished from: RT