Snowden Draws Standing Ovation At 'Truth-Telling' Awards Ceremony - GovExec [View all]

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Snowden Draws Standing Ovation at 'Truth-Telling' Awards Ceremony
By Charles S. Clark - GovExec
April 30, 2014


Andre Penner/AP

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Introduced by an emcee acknowledging that “some in the audience may not be comfortable” honoring him, ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden received a standing ovation on Thursday when he weighed in via video link from an undisclosed location and accepted an award for “truth-telling.”

“A year ago there’s no way I could have imagined I’d be being honored in this room, never imagined this level of support,” Snowden told a packed National Press Club ballroom at the 11th annual Ridenhour Prizes sponsored by the Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation.

“I thought the most likely outcome would be spending the rest of my life in prison,” said Snowden in explaining his decision last spring to leak thousands of classified NSA documents exposing domestic surveillance of Americans’ telecommunications metadata. “I did it because it was the right thing to do, and now I see I’m not the only one who felt that way.”

Appearing tieless and in a coat on a shaky feed projected on a screen, Snowden blasted James Clapper, director of the Office of National Intelligence, for “his famous lie,” a reference to Clapper’s March 2013 testimony—later modified—before the Senate Intelligence Committee denying suggestions that the NSA was collecting data on Americans’ phone calls.

“When Clapper raised his hand and lied to the American public, was anyone tried? Were any charges brought?” Snowden asked. “Within 24 hours of going public, I had three charges against me.”

The former Booz Allen Hamilton technologist whom some call a traitor repeated his assertion that “as a contractor, I had no whistleblower protections.” He said he had expressed his concerns about the domestic surveillance activities to supervisors but said he knew from the fate of other whistleblowers that disclosure was his only option.

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More: http://www.govexec.com/defense/2014/04/snowden-draws-standing-ovation-truth-telling-awards-ceremony/83509/