NSA Staffer: Snowden Didn't Dupe Coworkers Out of Passwords

[MADem]

174. No, the story is an anecdote by an unnamed person. A single, solitary unnamed person, gossiping

About Eddie. You'd think a few more people would want to come forward and chat "off the record" about what went on.

I'd take it with a chunk, not a grain, of salt. Anyone who knew this guy even slightly, and worked where he worked, could insist that he had qualities that placed him head and shoulders above his peers, or conversely, that he was a noxious shit who stole lunches from the community fridge--there's just no way to prove or disprove this kind of thing, and when there's only a single source, it's just one person's opinion, and it could be a person who had a personal relationship with old Ed, and has reasons for talking him up.

I agree with you that he wasn't stupid in terms of his tech skills --he wouldn't have been hired at Dell and Booz and other places if he couldn't do the job. That said , I think the "Real Hoo Ha" stuff published at Ars Technica probably tells us a lot about his character, too, and that stuff doesn't recommend him overmuch. You can be smart and stupid at the same time. Certainly, he could have grown as a person over the years, but the only way we'll know that for sure is if he starts talking. And he's pretty much been incommunicado, at least as far as those of us not working for Putin are concerned.

I think he's got issues. There was a better way to "sound the alarm" than by giving classified material to China and Russia. And that is what he did. Which makes me wonder if he hasn't been a Russian asset since he worked in Japan, at least, and first visited Hong Kong.