(Newswire.net — September 14, 2014) — NSA Associate Director for Policy and Records David Sherman said that the agency had launched a “comprehensive” investigation after media reports were published about classified NSA spy programs based on information leaked by Snowden.
“There were and there are numerous avenues that Mr. Snowden could have used to raise other concerns or whistle-blower allegations,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters today at a briefing.
“The appropriate authorities have searched for additional indications of outreach from Mr. Snowden in those areas and to date have not found any engagements related to his claims.” Carney said.
Snowden told NBC he would like to return to the US, while Carney reiterated he is welcome to come home and face criminal charges against him.
As part of last year’s probe, the NSA collected and searched Snowden’s sent, received and deleted email.
However, “The search did not identify any email written by Mr. Snowden in which he contacted agency officials to raise concerns about NSA programs.” officials said.
Searches for the emails included the records from the agency’s Office of General Counsel, Office of the Inspector General and Office of the Director of Compliance.
Snowden was working for McLean, Virginia-based Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH:US) when he downloaded about 1.7 million intelligence files — the biggest theft of US secrets ever. He has said his goal in releasing the documents to media outlets was to call the public’s attention to programs he believed had expanded with little meaningful oversight.
The findings contradict Snowden’s claim in an interview with NBC News in May that he did raise concerns through “internal channels” within the NSA and was told to “stop asking questions” before ultimately deciding to leak the secret files.
The NSA made its declaration in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by VICE News against the NSA earlier this year.
The only relevant communication uncovered was a previously released email between Snowden and the Office of General Counsel inquiring about material in a training course he had completed.
Edward Snowden, the fugitive US intelligence agent, was granted political asylum by Russia after he flew in from Hong Kong.