Snowden says that he had "the authorities" to wiretap anyone -- even the President.

[Major Nikon]

124. I didn't wonder about it at all

Manning was an intelligence analyst who worked in Iraq. He had access to exactly what he was supposed to have access which makes up for much of what he leaked. As far as the rest of it goes, that simply demonstrates how loose the military is with such things. I was in the military for 10 years. Anyone who thinks the military uses cutting edge equipment and techniques probably hasn't spent much time in the military. Most of what you see is outdated, and the same goes for their procedures.

Government agencies typically have multiple networks. They will have a less tightly controlled administrative network that ties all their employees together, and they will have smaller secure systems dedicated to specific tasks, tied together in varying degrees by secure networks. When you parcel secure systems out in the field, as the government often does, it becomes easier to narrow system admin access to very few, if not one person.

From the looks of what this guy revealed (a powerpoint presentation), my guess is that whatever he got, he obtained from their admin network and probably wouldn't have needed a very high clearance to get it.