Edward Snowden challenges US House panel report terming him 'disgruntled employee'

Washington: WikiLeaks whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden hit back on Friday at a House Intelligence Committee report that described him as a “disgruntled employee” and not a “principled whistleblower”. Snowden mocked the committee’s findings on Twitter, challenging several points. “The claim I “doctored performance evaluations?” This one is amazing: I reported an XSS (hacking) vulnerability in CIA annual review system,” Snowden said. A summary of the 36-page two-year report, said Snowden “was a disgruntled employee who had frequent conflicts with his managers and was reprimanded just two weeks before he began illegally downloading classified documents”. [caption id=“attachment_2967204” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Edward Snowden. AP[/caption] The report said Snowden “doctored his performance evaluations” and exaggerated his resume to obtain “new positions at the NSA”. “He took advantage of its access as network administrator to search hard drives on his colleagues’ computers,” it stated. According to Snowden, he “could go on”. “Bottom line: after ’two years of investigation’, the American people deserve better. This report diminishes the committee,” he said in his concluding tweet. The report released on September 15, came as Snowden supporters have launched a major push to have him pardoned before US President Barack Obama leaves office, and as Hollywood film “Snowden” hits theatres in the US. “Edward Snowden is no hero — he’s a traitor who wilfully betrayed his colleagues and his country,” The Telegraph UK quoted Devin Nunes, the Intelligence Committee chairman, as saying. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the media on September 12 that Snowden is “charged with serious crimes, and it’s the policy of the [Obama] administration that Snowden should return to the US and face those charges”, ABC news reported. Snowden on September 13, laid out his case for presidential pardon stating that though his actions were against the law, they changed the nation for the better.