Admitted
leaker Edward Snowden took flight Sunday in evasion of U.S.
authorities, seeking asylum in Ecuador and leaving the Obamaadministration scrambling to determine its next step in what became a
game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse.
The
former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician
fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he
planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to
Cuba. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government
received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group
WikiLeaks said it would help him.
"He
goes to the very countries that have, at best, very tense
relationships with the United States," said Rep. IleanaRos-Lehtinen, R-Fla., adding that she feared Snowden would trade more
U.S. secrets for asylum. "This is not going to play out well for
the national security interests of the United States."
The
move left the U.S. with limited options as Snowden's itinerary took
him on a tour of what many see as anti-American capitals. Ecuador in
particular has rejected the United States' previous efforts at
cooperation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder,Julian Assange,
avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.
Snowden
gave The Guardian and The Washington Post documents disclosing U.S.
surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and
online data in the name of foreign intelligence, but often sweep up
information on American citizens. Officials have the ability to
collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to
examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.
Snowden
had been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British
colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United
States formally sought Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong but was
rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully
comply with their laws.
The
Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of
the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and HongKong.
During
conversations last week, including a phone call Wednesday between
Attorney General Eric Holder and Hong Kong Secretary for JusticeRimsky Yuen, Hong Kong officials never raised any issues regarding
sufficiency of the U.S. request, a Justice spokesperson said.
A
State Department official said the United States was in touch through
diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that Snowden
could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on
criminal charges and reiterating Washington's position that Snowden
should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S.
Those
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to publicly discuss the case.
The
Justice Department said it would "pursue relevant law
enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be
attempting to travel."
The
White House would only say that President Barack Obama had
been briefed on the developments by his national security advisers.
Russia's
state ITAR-Tass news agency and Interfax cited an unnamed Aeroflot
airline official as saying Snowden was on the plane that landed
Sunday afternoon in Moscow.
Upon
his arrival, Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. One
explanation could be that he wasn't allowed; a U.S. official said
Snowden's passport had been revoked, and special permission from
Russian authorities would have been needed.
"It's
almost hopeless unless we find some ways to lean on them," said
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
U.S.
lawmakers scoffed. "The freedom trail is not exactly
China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we'll chase him to the ends of
the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there'll be
consequences if they harbor this guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham,
R-S.C.
With
each suspected flight, efforts to secure Snowden's return to the
United States appeared more complicated if not impossible. The United
States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with
Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement
though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.
The
likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from
traveling on to Ecuador seemed remote. While diplomatic tensions have
thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies
after a half century of distrust.
Venezuela,
too, could prove difficult. Former President Hugo Chavez was a sworn
enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier
this year called Obama "grand chief of devils." The two
countries do not exchange ambassadors.
U.S.
pressure on Caracas also might be problematic given its energy
exports. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports Venezuela sent
the United States 900,000 barrels of crude oil each day in 2012,
making it the fourth-largest foreign source of U.S. oil.
"I
think 10 percent of Snowden's issues are now legal, and 90 percent
political," said Douglas McNabb, an expert in international
extradition and a senior principal at international criminal defense
firm McNabb Associates.
Assange's
lawyer, Michael Ratner, said Snowden's options aren't numerous.
"You
have to have a country that's going to stand up to the United
States," Ratner said. "You're not talking about a huge
range of countries here."
That
is perhaps why Snowden first stopped in Russia, a nation with
complicated relations with Washington.
"Allies
are supposed to treat each other in decent ways, and Putin always
seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the United States,"
Schumer said. "That's not how allies should treat one another,
and I think it will have serious consequences for the United
States-Russia relationship."
It
also wasn't clear Snowden was finished with disclosing highly
classified information.
"I
am very worried about what else he has," said Rep. Loretta
Sanchez, a California Democrat who sits on the House Homeland
Security Committee.
Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said she had been told Snowden had perhaps more than 200
sensitive documents.
Ros-Lehtinen and King spoke with CNN. Graham spoke to "Fox News Sunday."
Schumer was on CNN's "State of the Union." Sanchez appeared
on NBC's "Meet the Press." Feinstein was on CBS' "Face
the Nation."
Source:
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