Published on October 24th, 2019 📆 | 1699 Views ⚑
0NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Explains The US ‘Deep State’
Edward Snowden, who has lived in Russia since 2013 after exposing the US state surveillance program, has taken part in an interview marathon with Joe Rogan. The whistleblower spoke about his life in Moscow and noted that there is currently a bias in the US media toward the country of his self-imposed exile.
Former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has taken aim at former US President Barack Obama, calling him out for expanding secret surveillance programs at the hands of various US agencies. In a 2-hour-long interview with comedian and commentator Joe Rogan, the whistleblower said that although Obama ācampaigned actively against the warrantless wiretapping of the Bush administrationā, he embraced it as soon as he became president.
According to Snowden, intelligence services have āfeared upā every president since John F. Kennedy.
āThese guys are basically saying, āIf you donāt do X, Y, and Z, this is going to fall on your lap,ā and the implication, which I donāt think they say but every president knows, is these guys can undermine you to death,ā Snowden explained, noting that they ācan put out stories which are gonna be problematicā for a president.
He also laughed off the notorious ādeep stateā and poked fun at the numerous conspiracy theories of āsome conspiracy of lizard peopleā explaining that the truth is much simpler.
āDeep state is simply the career government. Itās the people who are in the same offices, who outlive and outlast presidencies. Theyāve seen Republicans, theyāve seen Democrats, they donāt really care, and they give that same briefing again and again, and they get good at it,ā Snowden elaborated, noting that career bureaucrats will be after each president to āfollow up with their asks, which are really demands.ā
Snowden also spilled several details about his life in Russia, pointing out once again that it was not the country of his choice as he stayed there after his passport was annulled. The former US intelligence agency contractor, who has been in Russia since 2013, noted that his life here is relatively normal, as he can go for a walk, use the metro, go to restaurants and does not often get recognised. As he admitted, he prefers not to give interviews to Russian media as he does not want to see his face in the news. According to the American expat, he gets recognised a couple of times a year.
He also pointed that the attitude in the West toward Russia has changed internationally and that the US media tend to give a negative connotation to any links and associations with Moscow, noting, however, that he has criticised Russian authorities and has received negative press in Russian media.
Snowden, a former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who exposed a number of the NSAās global surveillance programmes by leaking classified material, recently revealed that he would like to return home but only if Washington could guarantee him a fair trial. He has been in self-imposed exile in Russia since 2013, where he moved after making public a huge tranche of highly-classified information from the NSA.
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