Citizenfour Page #2

trying to get them to come around

to being constitutionally acceptable

and take it into the courts

and have the courts'

oversight of it too.

So we, we naively kept thinking

that could, uh, that could happen.

And it never did.

But any rate, after that,

and all the stuff we were doing

they decided to raid us,

to keep us quiet, threaten us, you know.

So we were raided

simultaneously, four of us.

In my case,

they came in with guns drawn.

I don't know why they did that,

but they did, so...

Laura, I will answer

what I remember of your questions

as best I can.

Forgive the lack of structure.

I am not a writer, and I have

to draft this in a great hurry.

What you know as Stellar Wind has grown.

SSO, the expanded

Special Source Operations

that took over Stellar Wind's

share of the pie,

has spread all over the world

to practically include

comprehensive coverage

of the United States.

Disturbingly,

the amount of US communication

ingested by NSA is still increasing.

Publicly, we complain that

things are going dark,

but in fact, our accesses are improving.

The truth is that the NSA

has never in its history

collected more than it does now.

I know the location of most

domestic interception points

and that the largest

telecommunication companies in the US

are betraying

the trust of their customers,

which I can prove.

We are building the greatest

weapon for oppression

in the history of man,

yet its directors exempt themselves

from accountability.

NSA director Keith Alexander

lied to Congress,

which I can prove.

Billions of US communications

are being intercepted.

In gathering evidence of wrongdoing,

I focused on the wronging

of the American people,

but believe me when I say that

the surveillance we live under

is the highest privilege

compared to how we treat

the rest of the world.

This I can also prove.

On cyber operations,

the government's public position

is that we still lack

a policy framework.

This too is a lie.

There is a detailed policy framework,

a kind of Marshall Law

for cyber operations

created by the White House.

It's called Presidential

Policy Directive 20

and was finalized

at the end of last year.

This I can also prove.

I appreciate your concern for my safety,

but I already know

how this will end for me,

and I accept the risk.

If I have luck and you are careful,

you will have everything you need.

I ask only that

you ensure this information

makes it home to the American public.

Does the NSA routinely intercept

American citizens' emails?

No.

Does the NSA intercept Americans'

cell phone conversations?

No.

- Google searches?

- No.

- Text messages?

- No.

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