Free Republic

When Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on Monday, the news revived a long-simmering debate about the propriety of his revelations of U.S. government secrets. At the same time, it prompted reiterations of a widely-embraced falsehood: that Snowden “fled to Russia.” That disinformation-trafficking wasn’t limited to random people on social media. Among others, The New York Times, The Guardian, ABC, Christian Science Monitor and Canada’s CBC all asserted in the past week that Snowden “fled to Russia” in 2013 after revealing that the United States government had created a mass surveillance regime targeting its own...

When Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on Monday, the news revived a long-simmering debate about the propriety of his revelations of U.S. government secrets. At the same time, it prompted reiterations of a widely-embraced falsehood: that Snowden “fled to Russia.”The disinformation-trafficking wasn’t limited to random people on social media. Among others, The New York Times, The Guardian, ABC, Christian Science Monitor and Canada’s CBC all asserted in the past week that Snowden “fled to Russia” in 2013 after revealing that the United States government had created a mass surveillance regime targeting its own citizens,...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - One of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Icelandic national Sigurdur Thordarson, was arrested in his home country over sexual misconduct involving minors, the local Stundin newspaper reported, citing his lawyer. On September 24, Thordarson, who has been charged with sex crimes against minors, was sent to Litla Hraun, the most secure prison in Iceland, the media said. Thordarson's lawyer, Hunbogi Andersen, confirmed the arrest. In 2019, the US Justice Department announced new accusations against Assange, and a former FBI informer, Thordarson, was presented as the main witness. The...