14 DAY TRIAL // In the past several weeks information was revealed about how Edward Snowden’s background wasn’t properly checked when he was hired by the NSA, especially since one of his CIA superiors actually wrote a critical comment in his personnel file.
The issue, Snowden explains, isn’t that simple and his only fault was criticizing the higher-ups.
In an interview for The New York Times, Edward Snowden notes that he had been thinking of leaking information since he was a technician in the Geneva station of the CIA, back in 2008 and 2009.
When he asked for a promotion, he got into a spat with a senior manager for questioning his judgment. Months later, when he was writing his annual self-evaluation, he discovered a flaw in the software of the CIA’s personnel web apps that would make them vulnerable to hacking.
According to the Times, he warned his superior, but was advised to drop the matter. He was also brushed off by the technical team, until his boss finally allowed him to prove the system was flawed.
Then, he added some code in a “nonmalicious manner” to his evaluation file, proving his point. Then, a more senior manager, the man he’d already challenged months prior, became upset and filed the critical comment in Snowden’s personnel file.
The incident, however, taught Snowden that trying to work through the system would lead to punishment. And he wasn’t alone in the problem, even knowing of NSA employees who had gotten into trouble for pretty much the same issues.
The NSA whistleblower also noted that people in the spy agency aren’t happy with the issues, but people were kept in line through a false image of patriotism.
He is certain that had he tried to question the NSA surveillance operations through the government-imposed methods, those suggested by Obama during numerous interviews, the issue would have been buried and he would have been discredited.