For my Canadian friends

[Rigby5]

Nutty enough to go both ways:
- government employees conducting personal business via government equipment, &
- government employees disclosing confidential government information on private, non-secure networks.

Still not clear to me which breach was more extensive, Ed Snowden, or Don Trump.

I support Ed Snowden.
He was not leak, but a whistle blower.

{...
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs.
...
In May 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong, and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman, and Ewen MacAskill. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the cooperation of telecommunications companies and European governments, and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy.

On June 21, 2013, the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden on two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property, following which the Department of State revoked his passport. He stayed in Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for a month, then was granted asylum in the country. He became naturalized as a citizen of Russia in 2022
...}

 

[Shiftless2]

It was the Conservative Party who killed the Liberal National Energy Program back in 1985–The same party that today argues why we needed it so badly.

 

[Rigby5]

I suppose with east/west pipelines then Canada could sell to the international market instead of being tied to the US market only?

 

[sear]

"I support Ed Snowden." R5 #441

S2 #442

I'm all for whistle-blowers, rah-rah. BUT !

Providing $taxpaying $voters relevant information that might embarrass incompetent or corrupt government officials is quite different from
betraying heroic covert intelligence assets, subjecting them to murder and or torture.

The former informs the electorate.
The latter damages U.S. ability to gather important intelligence. Is there a more egregious, senseless, self-defeating form of betrayal?

Here's a hint.
Such outright betrayal is a transcendent disgrace. It is potentially, and has proven to be in multiple cases,
the most severe punishment imaginable, for those that have earned much, much better, our unwavering respect & gratitude.

in context of Val Plame & Ambassador Wilson:

"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life; I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are in my view the most insidious of traitors." GHWB
Former CIA head, U.S. President Bush (the elder), at the dedication of the George Bush CIA HQ in 1991 [ source: NBC-TV Meet The Press ]

 

[Rigby5]

I'm all for whistle-blowers, rah-rah. BUT !

Providing $taxpaying $voters relevant information that might embarrass incompetent or corrupt government officials is quite different from
betraying heroic covert intelligence assets, subjecting them to murder and or torture.

The former informs the electorate.
The latter damages U.S. ability to gather important intelligence. Is there a more egregious, senseless, self-defeating form of betrayal?

Here's a hint.
Such outright betrayal is a transcendent disgrace. It is potentially, and has proven to be in multiple cases,
the most severe punishment imaginable, for those that have earned much, much better, our unwavering respect & gratitude.

in context of Val Plame & Ambassador Wilson:

"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life; I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are in my view the most insidious of traitors." GHWB
Former CIA head, U.S. President Bush (the elder), at the dedication of the George Bush CIA HQ in 1991 [ source: NBC-TV Meet The Press ]

I only vaguely remember how Novak reported on Valarie Plame being CIA, ruining her cover, and making is too dangerous for her to travel anymore.
I think Armitage and Libby were the source of the leak.

But I do not think Snowden named assets, but systems instead.
{...
Edward Snowden revealed extensive global surveillance programs conducted by the NSA and its international partners, exposing how governments collect and monitor digital communications on a massive scale.

Key Revelations:​

PRISM Program: Snowden disclosed that the NSA had direct access to data from major tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Skype, YouTube, and Dropbox. This program allowed the NSA to collect emails, documents, photos, and other communications without individual court orders, effectively giving intelligence agencies a backdoor into global digital communications.

XKeyscore: This tool enabled the NSA to search and analyze vast amounts of internet data in real time, including emails, browsing histories, and online activity, making it possible to track individuals’ online behavior with minimal oversight.

Tempora: Snowden revealed that the British intelligence agency GCHQ tapped into fiber-optic cables to intercept and store global internet traffic, sharing this data with the NSA. This program collected emails, social media posts, and phone records on a massive scale.

Other Surveillance Tactics: Documents showed that the NSA used “method interdiction” to intercept packages, installing malware or backdoor hardware before forwarding them to recipients. The NSA’s ANT division developed technology capable of monitoring and even altering data on offline computers.

Telephony Metadata Collection: Snowden disclosed that companies like Verizon were compelled to hand over metadata from phone calls, including numbers dialed, call durations, and locations, covering both domestic and international communications.

Broader​

Snowden’s leaks highlighted the global reach of intelligence agencies, the cooperation between the NSA and the Five Eyes alliance, and the involvement of telecommunications companies and foreign governments in mass surveillance. His revelations sparked worldwide debates on privacy, government transparency, and the ethics of surveillance, leading to legal challenges and reforms in some countries.
...}