Snowden left for Russia "with a cornucopia of American intelligence documents" on four laptops

[Cali_Democrat]

According to reports by Chinese and Russian news agencies, Mr. Snowden is traveling by commercial air – first to Moscow, then to Havana, and finally to Caracas, Venezuela, where he is expected to be granted asylum.

<...>

It’s unlikely that Snowden’s relocation to asylum in South America – if, indeed, that’s where he’s headed – will put an end to his revelations about US spying.

The New York Times notes that Snowden left Hong Kong “reportedly carrying four laptop computers with a cornucopia of American intelligence documents that he downloaded to a thumb drive this spring while working in Hawaii for the National Security Agency as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton.”

http://news.yahoo.com/edward-snowden-heads-asylum-does-us-options-153629800.html

[Melinda]

1. Why would he carry 4 laptops if all the info is on a thumb drive?

The NY Times says Snowden "reportedly" is carrying 4 lap tops, but doesn't source that statement. It's actually quite a 'wtf' assertion given the fact that all the info he has was "downloaded to a thumb drive this spring while working in Hawaii for the National Security Agency as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton.”

[randome]

2. He probably repeatedly filled the thumb drive...

...copied its contents onto laptops then wiped the thumb drive so he could copy more.

Since Greenwald was talking to him before he started at the NSA, I'm betting this is all he did while he was in training. Copy documents.

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[Melinda]

3. Ummm, why not just use multiple external drives? lmao, this is getting sillier and sillier

There exist quite small, actually tiny external drives that carry hundreds and hundreds of GB's - far more than 4 laptops store and MUCH smaller. This makes no sense.

[randome]

4. Good point. Don't know.

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[JaneyVee]

5. Hard drives are more susceptible to magnetization via metal detectors/scanners?

[Melinda]

7. ALL hard drives are susceptible - this includes lap tops as well as thumb or other external drives.

But tiny hard drives are easier to disperse via mail, courier service, or other means than lap tops are. Carrying 4 lap tops on an airplane rings of stoopid - to me, anyway.

[Luminous Animal]

17. Snowden worked for the NSA for 4 years contracting out to various companies.

Booz Allen was his latest gig.

[MjolnirTime]

26. and Greenwald was in contact with him prior to Booz Allen.

There was a conspiracy to steal secrets.

[Luminous Animal]

27. So far, the bulk of the items the Guardian has reported on predate Booz Allen.

You have no clue when Snowden took documents.

You need a new hammer. The one you are using seems to be unable to bring down either giants or mountains.

[FarCenter]

9. Effective steganography requires a lot of extra bits per bit of information.

[Melinda]

10. Dammit. Someone made sense of it all. I am outta here!!

BUT, I still contend he could get more mileage by sharing the wealth.

[DevonRex]

20. There never was a thumb. Can't be done on those computers.

I'm sure he's made a lot since then for all his sales needs.

[Melinda]

23. Why would that matter now? Hasn't he had more than enough time to transfer...

to any receptacle(s) of his choice?

[flamingdem]

6. He's using the cornucopia for payola with Putin possibly

and will use it in the future also possibly for passage to Ecuador and then if he runs into issues down the line.

The problem is that he doesn't seem to be terribly concerned about geopolitics and who gets damaged

[Skidmore]

8. No, he doesn't.

He may think he is only damaging a security program but he is also derailing diplomatic relationships too.

[Cleita]

12. If the diplomatic relations are based in lies then they are on the way to being

derailed without his help.

[Skidmore]

16. Cleita, none of us--not a single one of us on these boards have a clue

as to what is being passed around. Diplomatic relations between nations throughout history have either been based on strong alliances or tenuous dances. Either way I would bet that no nation is totally honest with another when it comes to seeking to establish an alliance supportive of its interests.

[Cleita]

18. I don't entirely disagree, but a house of cards can be knocked down much

more easily than let's say a more solid house of dominoes, if the metaphors make any sense.

[Andy823]

15. Yep

And Ran Paul is going to be grinning from ear to ear! I still see Rand Paul written all over this. Faithful follower helps Rand destroy world wide relations with the entire world! Ron Paul will be so happy with little Rand.

[Cleita]

11. If those lap tops exist, you can be sure Wikileaks has them now.

I'll wait for the facts to unfold before I accept what is now only rumor.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. Or Russia. n/t

[Cleita]

14. He was accompanied by companions from Wikileaks. I think they have the information first even

if Russia gets their hands on it too.

[DevonRex]

21. Shit, Russia took everything he had the second he landed.

They might have given some of it back.

[npk]

19. So how long before Snowden is "disappeared"

I fear for his safety. And at this point there is no telling who the NSA and the CIA have tracking him. Snowden, even if he does make it safely to South America, will always have to live a life of fear and constant paranoia.

[DevonRex]

22. Just as soon as Putin decides he doesn't was us to know

What Snowden gave him.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Since the USA withdrew his passport so damn quickly

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2013, 06:40 AM - Edit history (1)

I too am concerned about his safety.
Remember, that the US had revealed that it lifted passports of Americans who later became drone targets.
And the UK had announced the same process for its ex-citizens.

There was a whole discussion of it here on DU not too long ago.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022443754

[morningfog]

24. Recommend! Keep the releases coming!

[Purveyor]

28. With those hard drives being cloned at every stop along the way. Godspeed Edward, godspeed! eom

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. Does anyone know who 'reportedly' said that to the NYT?

Or are they just guessing that, since he had 4 laptops when in Hong Kong, he'll have carried them all, with the documents still on them, to Moscow and his ongoing journey?

[adric mutelovic]

31. The 4 laptop thing may be made up by US-Govt. liars

In order to pretend that China drained the information, making Snowden look like a traitor.

anonymous sources with baseless allegations.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. The Guardian said he had 4 laptops while in Hong Kong

at the start of their reporting.

As he pulled a small black suitcase and carried a selection of laptop bags over his shoulders, no one would have paid much attention to Ed Snowden as he arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. But Snowden was not your average tourist or businessman. In all, he was carrying four computers that enabled him to gain access to some of the US government's most highly-classified secrets.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-profile?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20aux-1%20top-stories-1:Bento%20box%208%20col osition1:sublinks

But that doesn't mean he kept all the data on them once he'd gone public, or take them with him (as opposed to, say, giving them to an Ecuadorian diplomat, who can then make use of diplomatic bag protections). Given that they describe him as typing his passwords in under a blanket in case there was a camera watching him, and that his job was computer security, I doubt he'd keep the data on them unless he had to.

It is possible that he took them to Moscow, not caring if Russia got all the data; but the third-hand anonymous 'reportedly' makes it sound more like a guess by someone.

[suffragette]

36. "he was carrying four computers that enabled him to gain access"

The wording is interesting since it does not directly say the information is ON the "four computers," instead specifying they were used to gain access.
The documents could be on them or not.

It also does not say that the four computers are laptops. That seems to come from the "selection of laptop bags" and a leap to assume the "four computers" would be laptops since he had laptop bags.

Unless there was something else in original reports, this is looking a bit like a game of Telephone. The assumption that he has four laptops with the documents on them could be correct, but it could just as easily be incorrect.

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. It would be fairly unlikely he arrived with non laptops, though, on a plane

4 laptops take up enough room as it is. I agree it may imply he pulled some (all?) of the information, using the computers, after he arrived in Hong Kong.

[adric mutelovic]

30. The link to NYT allegedly saying Snowden has 4 laptops in Russia cannot be found on the internet

Can you find the NYT link?

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. That's here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/world/asia/nsa-leaker-leaves-hong-kong-local-officials-say.html

[adric mutelovic]

34. Your link says nothing about any laptops

Did yiu read it?

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. It showed up in a Google News search with the quote

Since the NYT limits the number of articles you can view without subscribing, I didn't open the link when I posted, just copied it. You're right that it now doesn't say that. Here is a reprint on another site, from the 'New York Times News Service':

Dmitri Peskov, a spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, said late Sunday that Kremlin officials were not aware of Snowden's flight plans.

"We have nothing to do with this story," he said.

A Russian law enforcement official quoted anonymously by Interfax said that Russian authorities had taken unusual measures to protect Snowden.

"This was done so that nothing threatened Edward Snowden, so that he could spend the night calmly in a capsule hotel and fly to Russia without problems," the official was quoted as saying.

Snowden is reportedly carrying four laptop computers with a cornucopia of U.S. intelligence documents that he downloaded to a thumb drive this spring while working in Hawaii for the National Security Agency as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton. The Guardian newspaper of Britain disclosed a week ago that Snowden provided the newspaper with documents showing that during a conference in London in 2009, the U.S. was able to access the communications of Dmitry Medvedev, then the Russian president and now the prime minister — a disclosure that will almost certainly cause Russia to review its codes and other procedures for top leaders.

Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, said he considered it likely that Snowden would remain in Russia, a country that is increasingly positioning itself as a protector of people like Assange, whom Western governments wish to prosecute.

"Russia is turning into a haven — virtually, intellectually and physically — for those who have an axe to grind with the West, who are whistleblowers or have problems with Western authorities," he said. "It's the only country in the world that at this point can afford it, or thinks it can afford it."

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/3852745-snowden-in-russia-reportedly-seeking-asylum-in-ecuador/

The NYT puts at the bottom of their current page "A version of this article appeared in print on June 24, 2013, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Traces Path As N.S.A. Leaker Flees Hong Kong." It seems they've update the version on the web - those 2 people quoted either side of the 'cornucopia' reference now appear as:

“We have nothing to do with this story,” said Dmitri S. Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin. “I am not in charge of tickets. I don’t approve or disapprove plane tickets. We’re not the proper people to address this question to.”

But Dmitri V. Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Mr. Snowden could remain in Moscow. “Russia is turning into a haven — virtually, intellectually and physically — for those who have an ax to grind with the West, who are whistle-blowers or have problems with Western authorities,” he said. “It’s the only country in the world that at this point can afford it, or thinks it can afford it.”