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Report: Snowden Stayed At Russian Consulate While In Hong Kong 107

cold fjord writes "The Washington Post reports, 'Before American fugitive Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow in June — an arrival that Russian officials have said caught them by surprise — he spent several days living at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, a Moscow newspaper reported Monday. The article in Kommersant, based on accounts from several unnamed sources, did not state clearly when Snowden decided to seek Russian help in leaving Hong Kong, where he was in hiding in order to evade arrest by U.S. authorities on charges that he leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs. ... he celebrated his 30th birthday at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, the paper said — though several days earlier he had had an anticipatory birthday pizza with his lawyers at a private house. ... The article implies that Snowden's decision to seek Russian help came after he was joined in Hong Kong by Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks staffer who became his adviser and later flew to Moscow with him. Harrison, the article suggests, had a role in the making the plans. ' More at the South China Morning Post."
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Report: Snowden Stayed At Russian Consulate While In Hong Kong

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  • Good. (Score:2, Insightful)

    I want Russia to remain strong, and if this includes Russia befriending those who whistleblow the US for their advantage, so be it.

    While I had little love for either the USSR or the Cold War USA, a world with only one military superpower is turning out to be worse - and all the proxy hot wars in developing nations are carrying on anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by rolfwind ( 528248 )

      Putin will put out!

    • But... he's selling secrets to the commies!

    • by Nutria ( 679911 )

      only one military superpower

      Military superpowers need strong economies to fund those military machines.

    • While I had little love for either the USSR or the Cold War USA, a world with only one military superpower is turning out to be worse

      The prez has a Nobel peace prize, like Mother Teresa. What can you possibly be afraid of?

      • While I had little love for either the USSR or the Cold War USA, a world with only one military superpower is turning out to be worse
        The prez has a Nobel peace prize, like Mother Teresa. What can you possibly be afraid of?

        Ooooh, peace through sadistic corruption [wikipedia.org]. He really is following in her footsteps...

    • Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Pino Grigio ( 2232472 ) on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:30AM (#44684977)
      Were you even alive during the Cold War? How in the hell is today's world worse than it was during the Cold War? If you think it's worse now and need a flashback reminder as to how half the planet lived back then go and live in fucking North Korea.
      • "They're starving back in China, so finish what you've got". - John Lennon.
      • Re:Good. (Score:5, Informative)

        by mrsquid0 ( 1335303 ) on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @09:07AM (#44685347) Homepage

        The Cold War was a terrifying time. It is not surprising that the Baby Boomers, who grew up during the worst of it, are such a screwed up generation. However, half the planet did not live like North Korea. North Korea has always been an extreme case. Much of the communist world, while far worse off than the west was, was better off than much of the third world at the time. That is one of the reasons that communism was appealing to many people in the third world. As hard as it may be to imagine, it was an improvement.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        Err, yes, I was "even alive" during the Cold War. My mother worked in Moscow for a time under Khrushchev. I can't speak on behalf of all Russians, but unless you're part of the emergent minority upper-middle class who have got to speak loudly about how much more "free" they are, and taking account of technological improvements, it was a better life in Russia then than now. (Don't confuse the USSR with Stalinism - that would be like judging the US by the heydays of black slavery.)

        Now, I expect I have as much

      • My first thought upon reading that was also "there is no way you were really alive during the cold war". This is the internet, everything is the fault of the USA. We would be living in a perfect utopia if only one of the more enlightened countries, like Russia (try reading that with a straight face), were in charge.
        • The problem is with the imbalance of power. It doesn't matter who has it.

          It's quite sad to see that a particular view of the Cold War is being instilled in the minds of both older and younger generations: the older remember the news which made them scared (like we have "terrorists and paedos everywhere!" today); the younger recite a dilettante understanding which almost entirely reflects the viewpoint of Western history book authors.

          Yeah, if you were a straight, white, middle class man living in a coastal c

          • You originally said that the world is not better off now than it was during the cold war. Now your posts seem to be saying that you just meant that life in Russia during communism wasn't as bad as it was made out to be in the west. Of course it wasn't. Also, I wouldn't call the US out for being a homophobic society...glass houses and stones kinda thing.
            • I'm maintaining both these assertions. Although I accept that some of the former Soviet bloc states are much better off, the condition of the world overall has deteriorated, because there is no balance of power to mean that stronger nations must *give* as well as *take*.

              It's simply wrong to suggest that life is better now for the average Russian because of the change to Putinism.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • Really, though, that's exactly the same as it is in the west.

          In the East, if you didn't respect the principles of the Soviet system, you got taken away.

          In the West, if you don't respect the principles of American capitalism, you get taken away.

          Or, to use a social rather than economic example, it's like whining that Saudi Arabia doesn't let women show off their hair, but having no problem with the fact that you'd get arrested in Washington for showing off your tits.

          We're living and breathing some system, and

      • There is a frightening amount of people who do not realize that history goes back further than 1990. During the cold war there were 2 very visible examples of "East" versus "West". E. Germany and W. Germany and N. Korea and S. Korea. A person could stand on the separation boundaries and see the differences for themselves. Does anyone remember in the 1970's the Russians had to send hundreds of undercover minders to keep their international athletes from defecting to the West. Getting into countries is one th

    • by Anonymous Coward

      I want Russia to remain strong

      Do you know any Russians? Have you ever been to Russia? I know many Russians that are very good at research, the arts, etc... none of them are looking for jobs there. It is a big country, so it has some "might" to it, and it's military remains quite capable, but I do not see how someone who knows Russia today would call it "strong".

      • Yes, and yes, it's a shadow of its former self. But it's still militarily and diplomatically powerful, and not doing half bad with export of natural resources.

    • by Nyder ( 754090 )

      I want Russia to remain strong, and if this includes Russia befriending those who whistleblow the US for their advantage, so be it.

      While I had little love for either the USSR or the Cold War USA, a world with only one military superpower is turning out to be worse - and all the proxy hot wars in developing nations are carrying on anyway.

      I was raised during the end of the cold war and we were taught to hate russia and what it stood for. Who knew that after the cold war American Government would be come the bad guy? But then again, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

      I don't know about anyone else, but I want the American dream they told us we were living for, while undermining everything good Americans have believed in.

      • The American dream of getting rich and comfortable if you work hard is almost identical to the Soviet dream of a harmonious workers' paradise. They're both a variant on the traditional religious promise of luxury after death if only you suffer throughout your life.

        It's utter unreachable bullshit for the majority of the population. Unless you have great intellectual or social capital, you're going to be struggling until you die. The best you can hope for is enough propaganda to convince you that what you hav

  • by Subm ( 79417 ) on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @07:55AM (#44684691)

    It's interesting to learn about Snowden's eating pizza. It's exciting to know he's successfully evading getting caught.

    But the NSA is violating the Constitution, the executive branch is stepping on the gas to increase it, the legislative branch is asleep at the wheel, the judicial branch is represented by a few rubber stampers appointed by a Chief Justice who I don't think has the public's interests at heart, the fourth estate is facing persecution like never before, and the citizens are so materially comfortable they don't do anything.

    I feel like there's more of a story here than Snowden's pizza that might at least get the citizens a little less comfortable and a little more active.

    • Oh, for mod points...

    • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:06AM (#44684773)

      The Snowden story is the tip of the iceberg. Whatever happens to him, whether he escapes the wrath of the US authorities or he gets caught and "rendered", will serve as a reminder to the world of what the US is turning (or has turned) into. His pizza, and whatever else he does, is very useful to know about in that respect: it keeps him in the limelight, and continues to discredit the administration.

      Incidentally, none of the US powers that be is "asleep at the wheel": they're all very actively working against their constituents and against the population to keep themselves and their rich friends rich and in power.

      • The US is turning into what all governments eventually turn into; anyone who is shocked about the direction understands neither human nature nor history.

        Thats one of the reasons, when someone says "but maybe the [1st | 2nd | 4th | 5th] amendments are outdated and need repealing [slashdot.org]", you have to stand firm.

        Thats actually a large part of the reason I take the conservative "limit government as much as possible" stance. It surprises me continually that people will vote for an increase in government size and then

      • it keeps him in the limelight, and continues to discredit the administration.

        Actually, an article like this helps the administration's angle. "He stayed at the Russian embassy" needs only the smallest of spin-jobs to become "He was working for the Russians the whole time."

    • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:13AM (#44684829)

      What can you expect when we've heard more of Snowden than the wrongs that he uncovered? The media did a great job at redirecting the interest in this story from the crime to the one who exposed it. The media is just as much a part of this machine against the man on the streets as is Obama or Bush.
       
      Not unlike their focus on Miley Cyrus while America is about to take yet another step into the realm of perpetual war.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:22AM (#44684907)

      It's interesting to learn about Snowden's eating pizza. It's exciting to know he's successfully evading getting caught.

      But the NSA is violating the Constitution, the executive branch is stepping on the gas to increase it, the legislative branch is asleep at the wheel, the judicial branch is represented by a few rubber stampers appointed by a Chief Justice who I don't think has the public's interests at heart, the fourth estate is facing persecution like never before, and the citizens are so materially comfortable they don't do anything.

      I feel like there's more of a story here than Snowden's pizza that might at least get the citizens a little less comfortable and a little more active.

      No it's a fairly lame attempt by Cold Fjord to keep the Snowden story limping along so he can expose him as the treacherous bastard he really is. The grand old US of A is absolutely justified in spying on all citizens whether they are American or not, in order to protect the virtuous and unchallengable policies of the US Government and their absolutely legal and above-board (but necessarily and rightly completely secret and without accountability to anyone but themselves) spy agencies.

      Well done Cold Fjord, well done, I look forward to your righteous trolling of this article in the name of unwavering and unquestioning patriotism.

      • Well done Cold Fjord, well done, I look forward to your righteous trolling of this article in the name of unwavering and unquestioning patriotism

        Well, he doesn't seem to have posted to his own submission thus far... But it's early still.

        Also, I've seen him modded Troll a lot recently. I don't think he is a true specimen though; he seems to genuinely believe what he posts and might not actually be here only to annoy others.

        Personnaly I think he's often wrong, misinformed, even willfully obtuse. But he's not really a troll, if you ask me. And he's certainly a hell of a lot more courteous and polite than some others in the rightwing/neocon camp.

        So sorr

        • I'll second this.

          He seems to be getting better at refraining from posting when it would only hurt his credibility, too.

    • It's also about laying the ground work for an non-falsifiable claim that Snowden wasn't a young man with a conscience about massive illegal activities but instead a Russian spy.

      • Why would he go public if he was a spy? He's more useful to the Russians in place. He was an IT guy working for a company that did background checks for the NSA (and the rest of the US intelligence community and contractors), how is that not more useful than a bit of public embarrassment that probably caused a tightening in security procedures?

        The Snowden affair gives you an idea of how riddled the modern US intelligence/contractor community must be with actual spies. Not just foreign nationals, but also co

        • by chihowa ( 366380 )

          Why would he go public if he was a spy?

          It doesn't have to make sense. It just needs to be continually repeated by the media to work. Fridge logic never seems to kick in over here (or anywhere?).

    • It's interesting to learn about Snowden's eating pizza. It's exciting to know he's successfully evading getting caught.

      But the NSA is violating the Constitution, the executive branch is stepping on the gas to increase it, the legislative branch is asleep at the wheel, the judicial branch is represented by a few rubber stampers appointed by a Chief Justice who I don't think has the public's interests at heart, the fourth estate is facing persecution like never before, and the citizens are so materially comfortable they don't do anything.

      Except for the last part in regards to the citizens, I agree with you.

      Note also that the Chief Justice has very little actual authority except deciding very minor things that can also be overturned by the other justices... he is just the "first among equals" and his only real additional authority is to preside over the U.S. Senate in cases of impeachment of the President or Vice-President of the US.... and even that doesn't give him a vote since it requires a 2/3rd vote to accomplish anything in that situation other than for minor procedural and parliamentary rule issues. The Chief Justice also has the privilege by custom of being able to write the concurring or dissenting opinion (depending on his vote) for rulings made by the court. Then again, any justice can write such an opinion even if the the Chief Justice writes one too, so that is even minor. All judges are also appointed not by the Chief Justice, but by the President (and confirmed by the Senate). All the Chief Justice appoints are law clerks, staff, and having an influence on who is "admitted to the bar" and able to argue cases before the court.

      As for why citizens are apathetic about what is happening to the American government, it has nothing to do with the luxury lifestyle (or lack thereof) they are enjoying. The problem is that citizens no longer have any influence on their government and even elections themselves don't matter. The whole thing with regards to elections is that the whole system is corrupt. A video I saw recently (it isn't that new of a video) sort of explains the problem here:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1AK56FtVc [youtube.com]

      I don't know if the solution presented here will work, but it is an interesting idea by itself. I certainly come from a different political perspective than the presenter, but completely agree with his conclusions on this particular matter.

      • by mbone ( 558574 )

        Note also that the Chief Justice has very little actual authority except deciding very minor things that can also be overturned by the other justices... he is just the "first among equals" and his only real additional authority is to preside over the U.S. Senate in cases of impeachment of the President or Vice-President of the US.... and even that doesn't give him a vote since it requires a 2/3rd vote to accomplish anything in that situation other than for minor procedural and parliamentary rule issues.

        No,

        • by Teancum ( 67324 )

          Interesting. I wonder how the Chief Justice can live with himself appointing such judges when that is clearly an unconstitutional act in and of itself? The more I hear about the FISA court, the more I hate it.

          Heck, Congress didn't even have the authority to even pass such legislation in the first place. Of course unconstitutional legislation doesn't really matter to those guys, or to the judicial system itself either. It still boils down to the fact that the American people are no longer citizens but ra

        • by Teancum ( 67324 )

          Note: The judges of the FISA court are confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become federal judges in the first place... and serve in other positions in the federal judiciary, but their appointment to the FISA court itself is done by the Chief Justice. A minor triviality that still is stupid, but they are appointed and confirmed in a normal constitutional process to become judges in the first place as serving on the FISA court is seen as a "committee" and not a "real court" from a farcical constitutional perspe

      • All judges are also appointed not by the Chief Justice, but by the President (and confirmed by the Senate). All the Chief Justice appoints are law clerks, staff, and having an influence on who is "admitted to the bar" and able to argue cases before the court.

        Perhaps if FISC [epic.org] were a Constitutional court, it would be better. Oh, but a Constitutional secret court is an oxymoron, like 'limited government'.

  • Why is it that someone reveals exactly what we all had assumed was already going on for a long time... and people become obsessed with this person? Something isn't right about this who story.

    It's as if... he's... a plant or something.

    (flame suit activated.)

  • "It really concerns me how little this sort of corporate behavior bothers those outside of technology circles. Society really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types." TheTrueHOOHA [arstechnica.com], Feb 2010

    "I can authoritatively state that those specific question types absolutely cannot be asked without specific cause [i.e. reporting]. If you got asked this, there's a specific reason, creepster." TheTrueHOOHA [arstechnica.com], Nov 2008
  • by Bucc5062 ( 856482 ) <bucc5062 AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:36AM (#44685039)

    I'll be clear, that article was a bunch of bullshit. Unnamed sources, conflicting stories, over the top innuendos that come together to to a good job of discrediting the man, thus his motive and his data. The story is a hack job of low hanging dfruit to get other media outlets an opportunity to shape or spin the idea that Mr. Snowden was not acting in the greater interests of the People, but was really "working for the Russians".

    " because Havana, under pressure from Washington, said it would not allow the plane to land."

    Are you serious. Cube caving to pressure from the United States? That is laughable. Russia maybe, the US...right

      "All I can say is that I have absolutely no idea about this," Ho said. "I was only his legal adviser and was not fully involved in his dealings." This from the local legal representative in Hong Kong. A person whom I would think likes to keep tabs on his very high profile client. Then this completely worthless statement

    "A spokeswoman for the consulate in Hong Kong would neither confirm nor comment on the report.". So that lends what to the the legitimacy of the story? Nothing, but it does what it always intends, casts doubt. "What are they hiding, he really must have been there otherwise they'd say he was not".

    The marketing department for the NSA and the US government is really starting to ramp up the spin. "Mr. Snowden must be a spy, he ran right to the communists.". "Mr. Snowden is a traitor for releasing secrets to our Russian enemies". Mr. Snowden is a terrorist because he helped them communicate better in secret" and the sad thing is the majority of the US (And world) population will buy the story hook line and sinker.

    Then on the other side, even my supposed thoughtful reporting NPR station put out anotehr fluff piece, this time about the NSA LOVEINT activities. The two reporters made it seem like a joke, a trivial action taken by so "oh so naughty" analysts instead of what it was, a sever breach of privacy; an act that would put an average citizen in jail under arrest. The NSA violated the privacy rights of American citizens and it is reported as "shame on you, don't do that again"...sigh.

    As a final point to the spin, Congress, coming back from break will not be able to investigate any violations to the Constitution by the NSA for the American public was just made aware the the Government "miscalculated" when we need to raise the debt ceiling and it needs to happen soon...let the hilarity begin. If that is not enough the President wants to shoot exploding objects into Syria which certainly means the media will be quite focused on anything but the NSA travails.

    Right now, everything said about Syria is close to a dup for Iraq before the war. Obama, the man who voted against action in Iraq now ponders whether to attack Syria. If Assad bombed his own people with gas then he is despicable, disgusting, and immoral and worthy to be brought to justice for war crimes and crime against humanity. Syria, like this article is just a tool to divert attention away from the systematic destruction of privacy in this country. Sad times. Sad times.

    • by mbone ( 558574 )

      " because Havana, under pressure from Washington, said it would not allow the plane to land."

      Are you serious. Cube caving to pressure from the United States? That is laughable. Russia maybe, the US...right

      This was one of the things that set my BS detector off. You can say many things about the Castro regimes, but being susceptible to US pressure is not one of them. We are not going to invade Cuba over this, and what other leverage do we have?

      This seems like clumsy disinformation to me. If they had said, say

      • The Castro brothers are getting old and will not be around much longer. Once they are gone I believe you will see a different attitude from those in the US and Cuba who realize both countries gain nothing by continuing the same type of adversarial relationship and actually stand to gain quite a lot if relations can finally be normalized. This cannot be done until the Castro brothers are gone because Fidel has defined his entire life as being a fighter against US imperialism and to adopt any different strate

    • Then on the other side, even my supposed thoughtful reporting NPR station put out anotehr fluff piece, this time about the NSA LOVEINT activities. The two reporters made it seem like a joke, a trivial action taken by so "oh so naughty" analysts instead of what it was, a sever breach of privacy

      One element of propaganda is always humanising on side while demonising the other.

      The LOVEINT angle struck me as a very awkward and ill thought out way of trying to do that. A couple of the reports I read had a sort of "oh look, they're jealous insecure paranoids too!" ring about it, which was probably not the intention. I imagine a lot of people saw that for the flagrant abuse of power that it really was.

      It'll be fun playing "guess the planted story" over this, as they try and dress up the erosion of repre

    • Snowden is a traitor. A person can think what they like about whether he should have done what he did or not....but he is a traitor.
      • by asylumx ( 881307 )
        All you'll get for saying this kind of thing around here is modded down & flamed. Trust me, I've made the same mistake.
  • I have seen nothing to confirm this, independently of Kommersant, in any of the flood of stories based on the Kommersant article. It certainly might be true, but it smells like disinformation to me.

    Note that if he stayed at the consulate, it would have been easy for him to get travel documents from the RF. He could have made it to Cuba and on to where-ever before anyone knew he was moving. The Russians, I hardly need point out, have experience moving people and things around in the face of hostile interes

    • As soon as they gave him one years asylum he became a Russian pawn. What happens to him after the one year is up will now be determined at various negotiating tables where his fate will be just another bargaining chip.
      • by mbone ( 558574 )

        Well, maybe. The Russians are not known for giving up defectors.

        Now Wang Lijun, on the other hand, definitely was a pawn. There is a backstory there I would love to know.

  • by sl4shd0rk ( 755837 ) on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @08:42AM (#44685099)

    It's interesting that the best slur campaign the US can come up with involves Snowden eating pizza while trying to figure out where to run and hide. I don't give a flying f#ck if he lied, cheated and stole everything he turned over. The root of the matter is the NSA, and US government got caught with their hands full of illegal sh#t and many people in high place need to be held accountable. And that's not happening. In the meantime, the media is either trying to figure out how to spin this into reality tv for ratings. I can remember a day when the network news would have had a field day ripping apart all three branches of government over something like this. Instead, they carry on like a bunch of drama starved crack whores.

  • Has he published it anywhere? (no, I don't want yours ;-)

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  • by TheCarp ( 96830 ) <sjc AT carpanet DOT net> on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @09:41AM (#44685789) Homepage

    Not too long ago, this is the sort of revelation that would be in the public 30 years later.

    Its not just heros like Snowden who are leaking, the trend seems to be moving strongly towards the inability of large organizations to keep any real secrets at all. Nobody is giving up missle codes or anything legitimate, but.... lies told to the public seem to have a lot less staying power than they used to.

    I like this trend. May it continue for all of these orgs and may they have to eventually come to the conclusion that dealing honestly with the public is the only viable option in the future.

    I don't expect it but....I hope for it.

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