National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden’s father has published an open letter praising his son’s contributions in exposing the United States’ vast surveillance operations.
According to the Associated Press, Lonnie Snowden celebrated his
son’s work “summoning the American people to confront the growing
danger of tyranny.”
The letter was reportedly penned by the leaker’s dad and Bruce
Fein, a Washington, DC-based attorney who has represented CIA
whistleblower John Kiriakou.
Publishing of the open letter comes less than 24 hours after
Edward Snowden issued a statement through the anti-secrecy
website WikiLeaks from Moscow, where he has spent eight days so
far awaiting potential asylum from one of more than a dozen
countries he’s pleaded with for assistance. President Barack
Obama has asked for Snowden to be extradited to the US, and the
Department of Justice has indicted him on counts of espionage for
disclosing state secrets involving the NSA’s clandestine
surveillance programs.
“In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of
whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake,”
Snowden, 30, said in the WikiLeaks statement. “We are stateless,
imprisoned or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid
of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the
constitutional government it was promised – and it should be.”
Republished with permission from:: RT