Snowden’s Attorney: ‘He Never Anticipated This Would Be Such A Big Matter’

[ProSense]

Snowden’s Attorney: ‘He Never Anticipated This Would Be Such A Big Matter’

One of Edward Snowden's attorneys is portraying the NSA leaker as a "kid" who went to Hong Kong without a plan and underestimated the amount of attention he would receive after he revealed himself as the source of the government leaks earlier in the month.

Albert Ho, a partner at a prominent Hong Kong law firm, spoke to the New York Times about how the plans unfolded over the last week for Snowden to leave Hong Kong.

“He’s a kid, I really think he’s a kid, I think he never anticipated this would be such a big matter in Hong Kong,” Ho said in the article published Monday. “He enjoys Pepsi, he prefers Pepsi to wine, that’s why I say he’s a kid.”

According to Ho, Snowden was upset to learn that he may have to spend years in prison during litigation over whether he would be granted asylum in Hong Kong or be sent to the United States. He was particularly scared that he could lose access to his computer.

- more -

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/snowdens-attorney-he-never-anticipated-this-would-be

Oh really?

The problem with defending Snowden.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023083768

[still_one]

1. Really? Then why all the press conferences and interviews he has been giving

[Eric J in MN]

3. First he leaked to the Washington Post and the Guardian, anonymously,

...then he saw that it was a huge news story, then he revealed his identity and did press conferences and interviews.

[still_one]

5. Hmmmm, definitely not looking for attention

[msanthrope]

17. All the interviews and press conferences are to let you know that Snowden isn't the story. nt

[still_one]

20. Lol, yup you are right

[flamingdem]

2. How convenient that he has a Hong Kong attorney all lined up

Sounds like he's preparing a defense.

Latest rumor is that Snowden was picked up by diplomat's car with Ecuadorian plates.
Thus, he may end up as another Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Moscow.

This action would have kept Russia from arresting him, or from the responsibilty to
do so.

[aquart]

56. Russia doesn't want to arrest him.

They're having too much fun.

[NaturalHigh]

4. If he "never anticipated that this would be such a big matter"...

then he's an idiot.

I doubt if that's true, though. It's more likely that he had an "oh shit" reaction when the government charged him, and now his lawyer is trying to put out some talking points.

[ucrdem]

6. DUzy

let's send Mr Ho flowers for dumbest alibi ever

a "kid" who underestimated the amount of attention he would receive

[siligut]

7. Preferring Pepsi to wine means you are a kid?

Albert Ho is trying to portray Snowden as a kid? That's his defense? I'm confused.

[Little Star]

13. Well then I must be a 66 yr old kid. lol....

I hate wine. yuk!

[siligut]

18. Yes, but do you like Pepsi?

I think he is focused on Snowden enjoying sugary soft drinks.

[ucrdem]

21. The Pepsi defense, yeah that'll fly.

Like the Hindenburg.

[MADem]

83. Gee, Bob "Easy, Boy!" Dole must be a kid, too!!!!

[Little Star]

25. I love Pepsi but don't drink it at all because of diet.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. hahahahaha

This 30-year-old child is in way over his head.

He needs to just come back to the United States.

Stop this charade.

[allin99]

43. 2nd. he needs to come back for his 30 year sentence. and call it a night...

what was he thinking giving up secrets to other nations? i STILL want to know what the point was. Cuz no one, no matter how naive, is so dumb to think you could give up secrets of our spying on another nation and that it wouldn't become a big deal. i 'mean, c'mon. I know he's a kid, but gimme a freakin break.

[nineteen50]

71. Do you have a list of the

secrets he gave up?

[allin99]

82. good point, not sure what he has but...

the u.s. seems pretty intent on hunting him down for it. seems like it would save the u.s. a lot of embarrassment to just say 'eh, his documents he's showing are false'. i haven't seen them but a number of papers keep quoting that they know which documents'. So yes, i haven't seen them and i have no reason to trust snowden, but what is the govt' chasing him for if he's lying.

although if he's lying, then i guess he's lucky, then he gets like 5.

[randome]

9. Help me out here.

Do whistleblowers normally beg for mercy?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[bunnies]

10. So now he's an idiot kid afraid of having his puter taken away?

omg. And he likes Pepsi!

[Dr Fate]

11. LOL! Cheney said that when Holder prosecuted him for the Plame leaks.

Maybe they can share a cell.

They deserve each other.

[ucrdem]

12. "Snowden was upset to learn that he may have to spend years in prison"

Memo to Ed: next time the Guardian sends an attorney ask to see his license.

[randome]

14. Could Snowden rat out Greenwald? This could get much more interesting very quickly.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[ucrdem]

19. I doubt he could tell us anything we didn't long ago guess

but yeah that would be one hell of a messy divorce court. Epic. Stay tuned!

[Whisp]

22. sure could get more interesting.

I bet Mr. Greenwad's underwear is getting a bit damp about now.

[Tarheel_Dem]

60. "Damp" underwear? Ewwwww! That sounds chafe-y!

[Whisp]

62. well you know how leaks work..

um, they leak. They don't inundate.

[Tarheel_Dem]

63. Well, it "Depends" on what's actually leaking.

[jeff47]

46. Possibly....I wonder if a prosecutor would offer a deal for that. (nt)

[randome]

72. Hell, yes. I'm sure the NSA wants to know who helped him.

Even if they don't go after Greenwald for anything, it's important to get the information out there.

It might even be best to let Greenwald stew in his own failure instead of prosecuting him.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Dr Fate]

23. LOL! Maybe he and Dick Cheney (Plame Leaker) can share a cell!!!!

Or not.

I'm cool if we just go after the one who is worse.

[ucrdem]

29. Maybe they will. Let's put Glenn on the stand and see what he sings.

I mean says.

[flamingdem]

33. I'm buying popcorn

in anticipation .. mountains of

[ucrdem]

39. I predict CourtTV makes a comeback and overtakes CNN.

Think I'll call my broker . . .

[Dr Fate]

34. We KNOW Cheney is going down with Holder on the case & Obama behind the mic.

I can feel it in my bones this time.

Obama has ZERO tolerance against all leakers who would compromise our security.

NO ONE is going to get away with such acts of treason on his watch. NO ONE.

[ucrdem]

36. This IS the admin with the record number of leak prosecutions, right?

So I wouldn't rule anything out.

[Dr Fate]

47. I just hope that traitor Snowden gets it even worse than Cheney did.

I and I have feeling he will.

[ucrdem]

48. If he keeps picking lame attorneys like Greenwald and Ho, yeah he probably will. nt

[Dr Fate]

54. LOL! At least he did not hire Cheney's attorney.

Knowing where Cheney (And any other Leaker Obama finds out about) is going, that would have been a mistake.

[ucrdem]

55. Now you're giving away next week's cliffhanger.

[Dr Fate]

57. Yup. Cheney is shaking in his boots like any other leaker would be.

I can feel it in my bones this time.

[ucrdem]

61. If the shaking gets too bad

there's always the Ken Lay maneuver.

[Dr Fate]

64. Holder is going to tear Cheney a new one either way.

He IS TOO brave enough to go after the very worst traitors and leakers like Cheney.

[ucrdem]

65. He might.

Stay tuned.

[Dr Fate]

66. Or not. I'm cool either way.

nt

[pnwmom]

67. The fact that it seems incarceration might not bother him IF ONLY he had his computer

makes me wonder something. Maybe he's a brilliant person somewhere on the autism spectrum and that explains his black and white thinking, and also his apparent inability to anticipate how people would react to his actions.

I would have more sympathy for him, actually, if it turns out this is part of his background. If you can only see things in black and white, then everything IS black and white. For you, anyway.

[ucrdem]

70. It sounds like a decent enough defense.

I still haven't figured whether Snowden is a Manning-like patsy or just playing one on TV but I have no particular wish to see him harshly punished. A public trial, however, I would like to see, let the chips fall where they may.

[pnwmom]

81. Yes, it needs to be public. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

15. Why did you edit the post to make it have a different meaning? It is attorney Ho's opinion not

Snowden's.

I think he never anticipated this would be such a big matter in Hong Kong,” Ho said...

[ProSense]

16. What? There absolutely no edit in the OP. The title also states "Snowden's attorney." n/t

[Luminous Animal]

31. So why are people calling Snowden a moron when it is merely the attorney's opinion?

In the title you edited out the words, "I think" and the words "in Hong Kong."

[ProSense]

32. You were wrong. n/t

[ucrdem]

35. There were no edits. I just checked your link. nt

[ucrdem]

41. I'm not talking about your post and neither were you.

I have no idea what you think you're talking about now but you accused ProSense of something she didn't do.

[Luminous Animal]

42. The title of the OP is edited. Doing so made it seem that the Attorney was quoting Snowden.

Certainly, many other people thought so because they are calling Snowden and idiot.

[ucrdem]

44. What on earth are you talking about? ProSense's title is identical to the TPM title.

TPM, byline Perry Stein - 2:10 PM EDT, Monday June 24, 2013: Snowden’s Attorney: ‘He Never Anticipated This Would Be Such A Big Matter’

ProSense thread title: Snowden’s Attorney: ‘He Never Anticipated This Would Be Such A Big Matter’

There is no editing. Okay?

[Luminous Animal]

51. And TPM is doing the same. Both TPM and Prosense are advancing a dishonest edit.

[ucrdem]

52. I think we've already identified the honesty malfunction, thanks anyway. nt

[Cali_Democrat]

80. LOL

You fail.

[Luminous Animal]

37. No, I am not and I edited my post.

"I think he is a paid shill."

is different than...

"He is a paid shill."

[ucrdem]

45. Who said "He is a paid shill" besides you?

Self-delete is your friend.

[Scuba]

24. Same thing Zimmerman's attorney said.

[Skidmore]

26. He's 29 yrs old!

Lots of 29 yr olds have families, jobs, and responsibilities as adults. Boy, talk about gilding the lily.

[Tx4obama]

68. He is 30 now. He had a birthday last Friday. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

27. A Youthful Indiscretion??

At 29 I had children and working 60 hours a week. I sure didn't feel like a kid anymore...

[tammywammy]

28. Then he's a fucking dumbass.

FFS everyone with a security clearance knows what happens when you leak information. He's a goddamn moron if he thought it would be all easy peasy, just leave the US and leak willy nilly. Did he not pay attention during ANY of his security training sessions? I regularly get security awareness information distributed to me that includes recent prosecutions of people that gave away classified data.

And in his first interview didn't be say he knew the US would come after him?

[Cali_Democrat]

58. Of course he didn't pay attention during his security awareness training sessions

He was too damn busy downloading classified information.



I work in information technology and our security training sessions are intense and mandatory every year. The laws are spelled out and the consequences of breaking those laws are severe in many cases.

[justiceischeap]

59. And I'm just guessing but he probably had to sign a contract avowing he wouldn't do what he did

and in said contract there was probably some pretty harsh penalties outlined if one did abscond with classified documents.

[sheshe2]

30. The plot thickens!

Stay tuned for more, and there will be more!

[ucrdem]

50. Fast!

[sheshe2]

53. Yikes!

No kidding ucrdem

[AtomicKitten]

38. the 30-year-old "kid" is a moron

if he thought this was no big whoop

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

49. I don't know about Snowdon

But his attorney should get the death penalty for being that obtuse.

Full Disclosure: I think most attorneys deserve the death penalty.

[Life Long Dem]

69. That's because Waldo is dragging this out

Snowden’s Attorney: ‘He Never Anticipated This Would Be Such A Big Matter’

[gcomeau]

73. Yeah... he fled the country before leaking

...because he thought it was going to be no big deal.

[MirrorAshes]

76. Just like he specifically sought out the job

To have access to the material he wanted to leak.

Yeah, sounds like "no plan" at all

[Iliyah]

74. Now Greenwald is claiming that he never knew his name

until Hong Kong. And apparently from Rawstory that Snowden is still in Russia being interrogated.

[Summer Hathaway]

79. That's a part of Greenwald's story

that doesn't make sense to me.

So Snowden contacts GG with a promise of a big news story that is right up GG's journalistic alley. And at no time does GG attempt to identify who he is speaking with, in order to verify that he isn't being reeled in by some whackjob who is fabricating a story out of whole cloth?

Doesn't add up. What am I missing here?

[MADem]

75. Now he's a KID? He's a thirty year old man.

When I was thirty years old I had responsibility for hundreds of souls and millions of dollars of equipment. And I knew enough to not blab national security secrets in totalitarian nations.

The only excuse that I'll buy at this point is if he has a brain lesion or tumor impacting his thought process. If the adult - onset epilepsy story is true, then that's a possibility.

No way the guy could be so stupid. Now he's trying to play the ingenue? After deliberately taking that job so he could steal information? Not buying it.

[zappaman]

77. Poor baby.

Maybe the Pauls can help him out of this?

[Grassy Knoll]

78. Where did the Baggertarians Go ????