General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why did it take a Democratic administration for Snowden to become a dissident? [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)I guess the CIA is in the habit of handing out sysadmin jobs in posh assignments like Switzerland to twenty-some-odd year old "security guards" as a matter of routine?
It is highly likely he got additional experience to qualify for the CIA job while he was employed at the NSA.
And he tried to steal material from the CIA while he was in Switzerland, it's what ended his employment with them, in essence. He had a DEROS letter in his file.
When Obama came into office, he was off to DELL in Japan. Later he went to Booz.
I remain convinced that he grabbed everything he could because he knew the revetting of his clearance would end badly. If you're going to go out with a bang, might as well get something out of it. Or maybe he had a more mercenary motive? Or maybe he had an employer other than the USG?
Who knows? I don't claim to have the answers. But I will acknowledge I just have a strong suspicion that that's how it went down. Had his SF86 not been up for review/re-vet, he'd probably be attending one of his girlfriend's performances with her dance troupe this week, and swimming in the blue, blue ocean, instead of braving the Moscow cold.