Fugitive secrets leaker Edward Snowden knows dangerous information that could become America’s “worst nightmare” if revealed, a journalist familiar with the data said yesterday.
Glenn Greenwald, a journalist for Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which first published the documents Snowden leaked, told the Argentinian daily La Nacion that the US government should be careful in its pursuit of the former computer analyst.
“Snowden has enough information to cause [more] harm to the US government in a single minute than any other person has ever had,” Greenwald said in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“The US government should be on its knees every day begging that nothing happens to Snowden, because if something does happen to him, all the information will be revealed and it could be its worst nightmare.”
Snowden, sought by Washington on espionage charges after revealing details of secret surveillance programs, has been stranded at a Moscow airport since June 23 and is seeking refuge in Russia until he can secure safe passage to Latin America, where three counties have offered him asylum. Snowden in his interview with La Nacion that has documents tucked away in different parts of the world that detail US spy programs, Greenwald said. capture transmissions in Latin America and how they work. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to distance himself from the controversy, insisting the government was “not contacting” Snowden and that he had found out about the details of his meeting with activists through the media.
Greenwald said last week that Snowden would likely accept asylum in Venezuela. Snowden’s leaks on US spying secrets, including eavesdropping on global e-mail traffic, have upset Washington’s friends and foes alike.
Latin American leaders lashed out at the United States after Greenwald reported in a Brazilian newspaper that the United States targeted most of the region with spying programs that monitored Internet traffic.
Washington has urged nations not to give Snowden safe passage.