NSA practices industrial espionage, Snowden claims in interview
by Kirsten Grieshaber, The Associated Press
Former American spy contractor made allegations in interview aired on German public broadcaster ARD
BERLIN—Former American spy contractor Edward Snowden claimed in a new interview that his former agency is involved in industrial espionage.
In the interview aired Jan. 26 on German public television broadcaster ARD, Snowden said if German engineering company Siemens had information that would benefit the United States, but had nothing to do with national security needs, the National Security Agency (NSA) would still use it.
It wasn’t clear what exactly Snowden accused the NSA of doing with such information—he only said he didn’t want to reveal the details before journalists did.
Snowden also told ARD television that he was no longer in possession of any NSA documents, because he had passed them all on to a few selected journalists and that he had no further influence on the release of the files.
He faces felony charges in the U.S. after revealing the NSA’s mass surveillance program.
He is living under temporary asylum in Russia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S.
The revelations about U.S. surveillance programs have damaged Washington’s relations with key allies, including Germany following reports that the NSA had monitored communications of European citizens—even listening in on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone.
