LOL! Snowden's background check? Outsourced! Company that did it now under investigation.

[MADem]

69. A FOIA was submitted. The info was withheld because they need the permission of the

individual to release it (among other reasons). You really don't know as much about this case as I thought....!

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/edward-snowden-army-file-foia/66480/

Given that Snowden's military service lasted from May to September of 2004, according to the Army spokesman Ackerman spoke with, it's highly unlikely that it is conducting any enforcement action. Alex Abdo, staff attorney at the ACLU's National Security Project, told The Atlantic Wire by phone that the exemptionwas "not inconsistent with our experience" — but generally for those facing enforcement action by the military. The ACLU has seen information withheld under a 7(a) exemption, specifically in a case being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division. Whether or not the Army withheld the information at the behest of the Department of Justice is unclear; a Justice spokesperson declined to comment.

That we know Snowden's period of service raises a question of its own. Under FOIA, the government is supposed to release any information that it possibly can. Clearly, the length of Snowden's enlistment is information that would be included in his personnel file and, therefore, should have been released under our request. "It's not supposed to withhold whole batches of documents just because some of it is withholdable," Abdo told us. "It's suprising that they're withholding everything."

Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, agreed. "If they denied access to the entire record, en masse, I think that's problematic," Fidell told us by phone. He, too, had seen the exemption used in the past, but "not simply for personnel records." Fidell suggested that detailed records, which, for example, might explore a psychiatric condition or stigmatizing discharge, could be withheld under FOIA's sixth exemption. Even Snowden had a right to privacy, Fidell pointed out, ironic though it might be.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/edward-snowden-army-file-foia/66480/

If I had to guess--or place a bet--I'd bet that the bottom right hand corner of his DD214 says something that isn't just your run of the mill discharge code. I'll bet he's RE-4, for starters.

Perhaps the next time Snowden pops his head up, someone could ask him if he authorizes the Army to release his personnel file. Since I'm in a betting mood, I'll bet he'd hem and haw.