Biography
Edward Joseph Snowden is a former National Security Agency contractor who disclosed classified records to journalists in 2013, revealing the scale of United States government surveillance programs. He left Hawaii for Hong Kong on May 20, 2013. Federal prosecutors filed a sealed criminal complaint on June 14 charging theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national-defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence. Snowden flew to Moscow on June 23 while seeking passage to Latin America, but the United States had revoked his passport and he remained in the airport transit area for 39 days. Russia granted him temporary asylum on August 1, 2013, permanent residency in October 2020 and citizenship on September 26, 2022. He retained U.S. citizenship and remains wanted on the pending American charges; he has never been arrested, booked or imprisoned on them.