In His Own Words – Snowden's Former Boss Reflects

The controversial new movie “Snowden,” which is provocative director Oliver Stone’s take on NSA leaker Edward Snowden, was released in the United States on Friday.   The release of the film, along with his recent departure from Booz Allen Hamilton,  prompted Snowden’s former boss to speak out for the first time about his former employee.     In an exclusive to The Cipher Brief, Steven Bay tells the story of his experience with Snowden, when they both worked as NSA contractors for Booz Allen Hamilton,  just prior to Snowden fleeing the country.

The world’s attention was grabbed as a new hero to some, a villain to others, emerged on the morning of 9 June 2013 when Edward Snowden revealed himself as the individual who leaked information about highly classified National Security Agency (NSA) programs to the media.  This revelation shook the intelligence apparatus of the United States, opened Americans’ eyes to the fact that they should be concerned about their privacy, and taught enemies and terrorists how to defeat U.S. intelligence capabilities.  In the three years since, much has been written on these topics, but to date, little to nothing has been written about the impact Ed’s actions had on those who knew him and worked with him. Nor has there been an inside perspective of those involved with Ed just prior to his flight to Hong Kong or the search thereafter. What follows is my account of the search for Ed and my response to his unveiling on that June Sunday.