NSA Leaker Edward Snowden to Leaves Hong Kong for Moscow, Russia … Bound for Venezuela via Moscow and Cuba? Iceland? Ecuador?

It appears that Hong Kong thought little of the United States formal request for the extradition of Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, is reported by the Guardian to have left Hong Kong and is on his way to Moscow Russia. According to accounts, Snowden has left on Aeroflot flight to Moscow along with representatives of WikiLeaks. According to the AP, the Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden left “on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.” Talk about having little respect for the United States. Hong Kong just thumbed their nose at the US request for extradition.

The NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has flown out of Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding since identifying himself as the source of revelations on US surveillance programs, despite a US request for his arrest.

The 30-year-old had previously said he would stay in the city and fight for his freedom in the courts. But the Hong Kong government confirmed that he left on Sunday, two days after the US announced it had charged him with espionage, saying documents filed by the US did not fully comply with legal requirements.

It also said it was requesting clarification from Washington on Snowden’s claims that the US had hacked targets in the territory.

Video from Fox & Friends Sunday

The South China Morning Post is reporting that Snowden is bound for Venezuela via Moscow and Cuba.

US whistle-blower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong and is on a commercial flight to Russia, but Moscow will not be his final destination.

The fugitive whistle-blower boarded the Moscow-bound flight earlier on Sunday and would continue on to another country, possibly Cuba then Venezuela, according to media reports.

The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden had departed “on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel”.

The 30-year-old left from Chep Lap Kok airport on a flight scheduled for 10.55am. He is believed to have boarded Aeroflot Flight SU213, which landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport at 5.03pm local time, according to the airport’s website.

Wikileaks statement: Wikileaks is claiming that it has assisted Snowden in securing political asylum.

Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally. He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.

Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed.

Former Spanish Judge Mr Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks and lawyer for Julian Assange has made the following statement:

“The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person. What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange – for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest – is an assault against the people”.

UPDATE I: As reported at CNN, Edward Snowden has landed in Moscow.

The global cat-and-mouse hunt for Edward Snowden took a dramatic turn Sunday when the man wanted on U.S. espionage charges fled Hong Kong and reportedly arrived in Russia.

WikiLeaks said in a Twitter post Sunday that Snowden had touched down in Moscow. But the organization, which facilitates the publication of classified information, did not disclose what country would be his final destination.

U.S. Federal Prosecutors Charge NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden with Espionage

As reported at CNN, U.S. prosecutors have charged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government property. According to the WAPO, Snowden was charged with theft, “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.” The United States has asked Hong Kong to detain the former National Security Agency contract analyst on a provisional arrest warrant.  From KTLA5,  the complaint was filed June 14 in the Eastern District of Virginia, a jurisdiction where Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered.

Federal prosecutors have charged Edward Snowden, the man who admitted leaking top-secret details about U.S. surveillance programs, with espionage and theft of government property, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Virginia on Friday.

The United States has asked Hong Kong, where Snowden is believed to be in hiding, to detain the former National Security Agency contract analyst on a provisional arrest warrant, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The complaint charges Snowden with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person. The latter two allegations amount to espionage under the federal Espionage Act.

Dick Cheney Calls Edward Snowden a Traitor … Deeply Suspicious’ Snowden May Be a Chinese Spy … Defends NSA Surveillance Program

Politics makes strange bed fellows, doesn’t it? In a rather remarkable Sunday talk show appearance, Dick Cheney appears on FNS to strongly defend the NSA data surveillance program in a way in which the Obama administration has failed to. After all the bad-mouthing that Obama has done over the years of GWB, Cheney and the Patriot Act surveillance programs, it is Cheney that comes to Obama’s defense.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on Fox News Sunday  with Chris Wallace and discussed the recent revelations by “whistle-blower” Edward Snowden coming forward to state that the NSA data surveillance programs are Unconstitutionally collecting data on all Americans. Cheney called Snowden a “traitor” and questioned whether Snowden had have been a spy all along for the Chinese. As reported at the Politico, Cheney stated, “I’m suspicious because he went to China. That’s not a place where you would ordinarily want to go if you are interested in freedom, liberty and so forth.  It raises questions whether or not he had that kind of connection before he did this.”  Cheney further went on to  defended the NSA programs that were created when he was VP; however, he criticized Barack Obama for suggesting that the war on terror is winding down. Cheney said, “First of all he’s wrong, it’s not winding down … the threat is bigger than ever.”

“I think he’s a traitor … I think he has committed crimes,” Cheney said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

The former number two to President George W. Bush said he suspects Snowden was a Chinese spy all along, questioning his decision to flee to Hong Kong ahead of releasing classified information on the NSA’s phone and Internet monitoring programs.

Cheney defended those data surveillance methods as essential to national security, arguing that the threat from terrorism is worse than ever.

“I think he’s a traitor… I’m deeply suspicious (Snowden is a spy) because he went to China. That’s not a place where you ordinarily want to go if you’re interested in freedom and liberty and so forth. So, it raises questions whether or not he had that kind of a connection he had before he did this. The other concern I had was whether or not he had help from inside the agency… That is to say, was there someone else in NSA who had access to some of this stuff and passed it to him. That’s presumably one of the things they’ll look at.”

Video Hat Tip - The Gateway Pundit

Hmm, think Cheney will get a thank you from Obama?

Let’s take a good look at what Obama has said in the past about the false choice between liberty and security in the past when he was not president.

Talk About Hipocrisy … In 2006 Joe Biden Said, Don’t Trust a Spying President or Vice President, What Say You Now Joe? According to Gallup, Majority of Americans Don’t Either

Americans appear to be very troubled by the government spying on them. Hmm, so was Joe Biden when he was in the US Senate.  In 2006, then Senator Joe Biden said you can’t trust a spying president.

“If I know every single phone call you made I’m able to determine every single person you talk to. I can get a pattern about your life that is very, very intrusive. The real question here is what do they do with this information they collect that does not have anything to do with Al-Qaeda? And we’re going to trust the president and the vice president of the United States that they’re doing the right thing. Don’t count me in on that.“

But of course now that Biden is VP and Barack Obama is President, things are different. NOT! The NSA surveillance program as morphed into an all encompassing, out of control data grab on ever single American and in the process completely shredding the Contribution and Bill of Rights. For something that Biden said, “don’t count me in on that,” he appears to be all in now. What’s the difference? Oh, he is in power. Talk about your convenient flip-flops and the height of hypocrisy. Now that Biden is VP, he must feel it is completely OK to shred the US Constitution and spy on law abiding American people. Because the rules don’t apply the liberals. How does one morph their opinion that you can’t trust a spying president simply by whether they are a ”R” or “D”? Especially when the Obama administration has already been caught in the IRS scandal where conservative groups were targeted?

As Liberty Unyielding opines, “aren’t you glad we didn’t elect an idiot like Sarah Palin to be one heartbeat away from the president?”

It would appear We the People” are not for a spying president either. According to a recent Gallup poll, a majority of Americans disapprove of the NSA Government surveillance program. 53% of Americans disapprove of the “Big Brother” watching them and violating their right to privacy. Weasel Zippers provides a similar CBS poll where 58% disapprove of the Government surveillance program. The only group who approves, are Democrats. Funny, weren’t they the ones that were up in arms during the GWB presidency that their library books were being reviewed?

More Americans disapprove (53%) than approve (37%) of the federal government agency program that as part of its efforts to investigate terrorism obtained records from U.S. telephone and Internet companies to “compile telephone call logs and Internet communications.”

There are significant partisan differences in views of the government’s program to obtain call logs and Internet communication. Democrats are more likely to approve, by 49% to 40%. Independents (34% vs. 56%) and Republicans (32% to 63%) are much more likely to disapprove than approve.

CNN asks, Was it OK for Snowden to leak secrets? The question is debatable as the jury is still out as to what his ultimate motive was.

Kirsten Powers: Obama Admin Treats Whistleblowers As Criminals, Leakers As Heroes … “If he’s so offended by this, who has been fired?”

“I actually haven’t seen the president express real outrage other than giving lip service to it.”

It would appear that Kirtsen Powers has lost that loving feeling for Barack Obama. It took the scandal against the media for Powers to finally come to the reality that Barack Obama is more “Nixionian” than Messiah. Powers, a liberal and served in the Clinton administration, has had it with Obama and is calling him on his bull$hit. Obama claims he is a protector of the First Amendment, all the while they are spying on reporters. Powers stated on Fox News ‘Special Report,’ “I just think it’s incredible that he can stand up there and say that, he’s a fierce defender of the First Amendment which he’s said before as the press secretary of an administration that’s spying on reporters. And if he’s so offended by this, who has been fired? Why are heads not rolling over this.” When you can get a liberal like Kirsten Powers to finally admit that “Everything is completely upside down here,” when it comes to Barack Obama and his administration … Obama has a huge problem. The MSM, the very people who have defended, deflected and provided a disservice to America is covering Obama, have now turned on him as they have learned, if it can be FOX News, it probably has been them as well. This is the second scandal when it has come to how the Obama administration has dealt with the media. What are the odds this is just the tip of the iceberg as well?

click on picture to listen

From Real Clear Politics:

Kirsten Powers: : I just think it’s incredible that he can stand up there and say that, he’s a fierce defender of the First Amendment which he’s said before as the press secretary of an administration that’s spying on reporters. And if he’s so offended by this, who has been fired? Why are heads not rolling over this?

I actually haven’t seen the president express real outrage other than giving lip service to it. And I also think that you have to remember we’re focused on the media because we’re media, but there are a lot of regular people who are whistle blowers who have had their lives turned upside down by this administration. The same administration who said they treat whistleblowers as criminal but then people who leak information like Stuxnet or the kill list or Osama bin Laden information are heroes because they make President Obama look like some super human protector of America. Everything is completely upside down here. (Special Report, May 21, 2013)