He also said the it was the same officials that have criticized his leaks that more or less appointe

In this June 9, 2013 file photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, in Hong Kong. Snowden says his mission s already accomplished after leaking NSA secrets that have caused a reassessment of U.S. surveillance policies. imperial palace hotel casino Snowden told The Washington Post in a story published online Monday night, Dec. 23, 2013, he has already won because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government s collection of bulk Internet and phone records.
As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself, Snowden told the  Washington Post s Barton Gellman one of the journalists he leaked imperial palace hotel casino classified intelligence documents to earlier this year.
Gellman conducted a total of 14 hours of interviews with Snowden in Moscow, where Snowden has been evading arrest back in the U.S., since seeking asylum in the country in June. Russia granted the now 30-year-old imperial palace hotel casino temporary asylum  in August , after he spent more than a month in hiding imperial palace hotel casino inside the transit imperial palace hotel casino zone of Moscow s Sheremetyevo International Airport .
According to Gellman, Snowden is leading a private life in the Russian capital, staying out of sight, living off off ramen noodles and chips and spending time online imperial palace hotel casino corresponding with journalists and lawyers and keeping an eye on the progress imperial palace hotel casino of his cause.
He admitted that he had no choice but to stay in Moscow, which isn t exactly a destination known for press and Internet freedom something imperial palace hotel casino Snowden imperial palace hotel casino had championed or respect for government whistleblowers, because the U.S. government imperial palace hotel casino voided his passport while he was in transit to Latin America.
He also said the it was the same officials that have criticized his leaks that more or less appointed him to call out the NSA and reveal how it was monitoring the phone records and emails imperial palace hotel casino of millions of Americans and spying on world leaders and trading partners.
"Dianne Feinstein elected me when she asked softball questions [in committee hearings] Mike Rogers elected me when he kept these programs hidden. . . . The FISA court elected me when they decided to legislate from the bench on things that were far beyond the mandate of what that court was ever intended to do.
Since he leaked the first of his massive trove of documents back in June there are reports he may possess an  estimated 1.7 million pages  of classified documents the revelations have taken surveillance and spying out of the shadows imperial palace hotel casino and into the public imperial palace hotel casino consciousness.
There have been calls for more accountability in the U.S. and its partner nations in the  Five Eyes  alliance Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand and within the last week two major developments signaled the government may have to curb its domestic intelligence gathering.
On Dec. 16, U.S. District Court judge ruled, on a civil case against the government filed in June, the NSA s collection of telephone records  were likely unconstitutional  and almost Orwellian. Then on Dec. 18, a panel appointed by President Barack Obama urged  putting limits on the NSA s domestic spying and said bulk collection of telephone information   was not essential to preventing [terror] attacks.
The  Washington Post s interview with Snowden was the first in-person interview the former intelligence contractor has given since he arrived in Russia in June. He ll also give a televised message to Britons on Christmas Day, when  Channel 4 News  features him in station s annual Alternative Christmas Message.
The message was  reportedly filmed by  former  Guardian  journalist imperial palace hotel casino Laura Poitras, who, along with former Guardian journalist  Glenn Greenwald , first met with Snowden  in May  and broke the story about the NSA phone records collection program on June 2.
This week, McDonald's warned its employees that eating burgers and fries may be hurting their waistlines and health, then pulled the controversial advice from its internal employee website. Continue reading
Prince William and his wife Catherine welcomed their first son on July 22. Media camped out for weeks outside Kate's hospital wing in what was dubbed the Great Kate Wait. Was the birth of Prince George the biggest story of the year? Vote in our poll. Continue reading