THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: MOSCOW—Fugitive former intelligence operative Edward Snowden told supporters at a secret dinner this week that he doesn't regret leaking details of classified U.S. surveillance programs, despite having to live his life on the run because he is satisfied his actions have had an impact, a person present at the dinner said.
Mr. Snowden told four former U.S. government agents-turned-whistleblowers, who traveled to Moscow to give him an award, that he was settling into his new life in Russia and was happy to have avoided the fate experienced by others who have exposed government secrets.
"He made his decision and didn't hesitate for a second when we asked if he would do it again, and he prepared it well enough so I think he takes a measure of satisfaction that he didn't end up like Bradley Manning," said Ray McGovern, a former CIA agent who was among the group, referring to the former U.S. soldier recently sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified documents.
The dinner Wednesday evening marked Mr. Snowden's first public appearance since being granted temporary political asylum in Russia on Aug. 1, as he fled from prosecutors in the U.S. who have charged him under the Espionage Act. Mr. Snowden had been in hiding in Russia under heavy security for weeks and had only previously emerged in public in disguise, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has said. » | Lukas I. Alpert | Friday, October 11, 2013
