The 13 Most Bizarre Things From Edward Snowden’s NBC News Interview
Last night, while watching Brian Williams’ interview with Ed Snowden, I actually agreed with Glenn Greenwald about something. Back in 2012, Greenwald referred to Williams as “NBC News’ top hagiographer,” using “his reverent, soothing, self-important baritone” to deliver information in its “purest, most propagandistic, and most subservient form.”
It’s worth noting at the outset that Greenwald flew all the way to Moscow specifically for the NBC News interview, and he appeared on camera with Snowden and Williams, answering questions from this so-called “hagiographer.”
Now, I’m not a Brian Williams hater. I think he’s a fine news anchor. But his interview with Ed Snowden was yet another in a long, long line of deferential, uninformed, unchallenging interviews. But it’s not a stretch to presume that Greenwald, the man who once aimed all of his wordy, caustic vitriol in Williams’ general direction, referring to him as possessing “child-like excitement” over gaining access to a source, probably loved every minute of it. However, don’t break out the champagne just yet, NBC News; Greenwald will immediately shift gears sometime very soon and continue to indict any and all mainstream news outlets, including NBC, as being impotent, pernicious, drooling shills for President Obama and the D.C. elite.
So what about the telecast itself? Here are the 13 most bizarre things from Snowden’s NBC News interview.
1) Snowden claimed he has “no relationship” with the Russian government and that he’s “not supported” by it. That’s odd, given how the Russian government has twice offered him asylum and one of his lawyers, Anatoly Kucherena, is an attorney with the Russian intelligence agency, the FSB (formerly the KGB). Tell me again why anyone should trust this guy?
2) “Sometimes to do the right thing you have to break a law.” So it’s really up to each of us individually to decide whether our own interpretation of “doing the right thing” necessitates breaking the law? A lot of awful things have occurred with that exact justification.
3) Snowden said that no one has been harmed by his disclosures. Yet. Already, though, one of his documents escalated tensions between Australia and Indonesia, and another document endangered lives in Afghanistan to the point where Greenwald refused to publish the name of that country. It’s only a matter of time, sadly.
4) Early on, Snowden said, “I’m not a spy.” Later he famously confessed to being “trained as a spy.” Huh?
5) Snowden said he destroyed his documents before going to Russia. This is really strange. I have no idea whether he really destroyed his NSA files, but he did in fact meet with Russian officials in Hong Kong, when he reportedly celebrated his birthday at the Russian consulate. Did he still have his documents at that point? Earlier, he said his goal was to fly to Latin America, so why did he anticipate being in Russia to the point where he destroyed his documents to prevent Russians from acquiring them? These are all follow-up questions that a journalist who was informed about the details of Snowden’s timeline would’ve asked. Williams was not and therefore did not… READ MORE
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By: Bob Cesca
Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go
10 responses to The 13 Most Bizarre Things From Edward Snowden’s NBC News Interview
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fahvel May 29th, 2014 at 09:01
no elected govt should have any secrets from the public it works for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fahvel May 29th, 2014 at 09:01
no elected govt should have any secrets from the public it works for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No way out May 29th, 2014 at 12:52
He’s a traitor and a spy. We should never let him back in the country. This from a California Dem
No way out May 29th, 2014 at 12:52
He’s a traitor and a spy. We should never let him back in the country. This from a California Dem
SkeeterVT May 29th, 2014 at 15:12
I’ve said this before, and I will say it again. . . Edward Snowden is NO Daniel Ellsberg. To the contrary, Snowden DISGRACED the legacy of Ellsberg and other whistleblowers of government wrongdoing by doing the one thing that neither Ellsberg nor any other whistleblower (to the best of my knowledge) has: Instead of making his case in a face-to-face confrontation with the government — whether in a congressional hearing
or in a courtroom — he instead FLED THE COUNTRY HE CLAIMS TO LOVE.
To add insult to injury, he fled to a country that is hardly a paragon of liberal democracy and defender of human rights — China. Then he left China to a country that is just as authoritarian — Russia.
Daniel Ellsberg — for those of you not old enough to remember — is the former defense contractor who leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in the 1970s. Unlike Snowden, Ellsberg stood trial and made his case against government wrongdoing in a court of law.
Outraged by the Nixon administration’s attempt to stop the Times and other newspapers from publishing the top-secret Pentagon documents about U.S. strategy in its then-just-concluded war in Vietnam (which the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press) — as well as misconduct by government prosecutors in Ellsberg’s trial — Federal Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. threw out the government’s case against him.
Snowden would have had a far more powerful case to make against the NSA’s overly broad surveillance program (parts of which were declared unconstitutional by art least two federal courts) if he had he stayed in the country and, like Ellsberg,
challenged the government at his trial. Instead, he did the cowardly thing and not only fled the country, but fled to two nations that could easily have used whatever information contained in those NSA documents for their own purposes.
Were this the Cold War era, Snowden would surely have been tried for treason — which carries the death penalty. While I won’t go so far as to call Snowden a traitor, he’s definitely a coward for not staying in this country and standing his ground in a
court of law.
SkeeterVT May 29th, 2014 at 15:12
I’ve said this before, and I will say it again. . . Edward Snowden is NO Daniel Ellsberg. To the contrary, Snowden DISGRACED the legacy of Ellsberg and other whistleblowers of government wrongdoing by doing the one thing that neither Ellsberg nor any other whistleblower (to the best of my knowledge) has: Instead of making his case in a face-to-face confrontation with the government — whether in a congressional hearing
or in a courtroom — he instead FLED THE COUNTRY HE CLAIMS TO LOVE.
To add insult to injury, he fled to a country that is hardly a paragon of liberal democracy and defender of human rights — China. Then he left China to a country that is just as authoritarian — Russia.
Daniel Ellsberg — for those of you not old enough to remember — is the former defense contractor who leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in the 1970s. Unlike Snowden, Ellsberg stood trial and made his case against government wrongdoing in a court of law.
Outraged by the Nixon administration’s attempt to stop the Times and other newspapers from publishing the top-secret Pentagon documents about U.S. strategy in its then-just-concluded war in Vietnam (which the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press) — as well as misconduct by government prosecutors in Ellsberg’s trial — Federal Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. threw out the government’s case against him.
Snowden would have had a far more powerful case to make against the NSA’s overly broad surveillance program (parts of which were declared unconstitutional by art least two federal courts) if he had he stayed in the country and, like Ellsberg,
challenged the government at his trial. Instead, he did the cowardly thing and not only fled the country, but fled to two nations that could easily have used whatever information contained in those NSA documents for their own purposes.
Were this the Cold War era, Snowden would surely have been tried for treason — which carries the death penalty. While I won’t go so far as to call Snowden a traitor, he’s definitely a coward for not staying in this country and standing his ground in a
court of law.
greenfloyd May 30th, 2014 at 00:18
It is not difficult to to judge Snowden a criminal as long as he remains a fugitive. Nonetheless, we would be wise to remember it’s early going in terms of actual disclosures based on the reportedly voluminous amount of information he turned over to Greenwald, et al. Right now Snowden may just be bidding his time, waiting for that proverbial next shoe to fall. Meanwhile, even House Republicans agree the NSA needs serious reigning in,and the Obama administration scrambles to deal with its latest foreign policy fumble by inadvertently disclosing the identity of the CIA’s “station chief” in Kabul.
floyd[@]greenfloyd.org May 30th, 2014 at 00:18
It is not difficult to to judge Snowden a criminal as long as he remains a fugitive. Nonetheless, we would be wise to remember it’s early going in terms of actual disclosures based on the reportedly voluminous amount of information he turned over to Greenwald, et al. Right now Snowden may just be bidding his time, waiting for that proverbial next shoe to fall. Meanwhile, even House Republicans agree the NSA needs serious reigning in,and the Obama administration scrambles to deal with its latest foreign policy fumble by inadvertently disclosing the identity of the CIA’s “station chief” in Kabul.
Ed Snowed Us May 30th, 2014 at 11:25
Brian on two consecutive NBC shows covered the tragic Seige of Homs finally lifted for a few hundred people, evacuted by a UN Convoy, admist a hellscape of shattered buildings and sniper fire.
Mentions of: Aerial Bombing – zero
Mentions of: Bashar Assad – none
Mentions of: Enforced Starvation – nada
Mentions of: Who was shooting at each other a few blocks away – zilch
Amazingly the rebels just found themselves in Old Homs and couldn’t figure out how to walk a mile or so to cafes where pro-Assad residents are stuffing themselves with food. Weird how the buildings fell apart like that, very odd.
Ed Snowed Us May 30th, 2014 at 11:25
Brian on two consecutive NBC shows covered the tragic Seige of Homs finally lifted for a few hundred people, evacuted by a UN Convoy, admist a hellscape of shattered buildings and sniper fire.
Mentions of: Aerial Bombing – zero
Mentions of: Bashar Assad – none
Mentions of: Enforced Starvation – nada
Mentions of: Who was shooting at each other a few blocks away – zilch
Amazingly the rebels just found themselves in Old Homs and couldn’t figure out how to walk a mile or so to cafes where pro-Assad residents are stuffing themselves with food. Weird how the buildings fell apart like that, very odd.