Edward Snowden | Exile | 4

American Scandal

Wondery

True Crime, Exhibit C, Society & Culture, History, Documentary, History Daily, American History Tellers, Lindsay Graham

4.6 • 18.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2022

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Edward Snowden tries to flee to Ecuador. But the Obama administration counters with a surprise move, leaving Snowden trapped in Russia.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American Scandal ad-free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:20.0	It's late June 2013.
0:23.0	In a working-class neighborhood in Hong Kong, a siren wails as a police car comes rolling down the street.
0:29.0	The car turns a corner, and as it passes by a row of worn-down apartments, Edward Snowden holds his breath.
0:36.0	Snowden watches from the entryway of one of the apartments, as the police car heads down the block.
0:41.0	And when it's finally out of sight, Snowden breathes as I have relief.
0:45.0	The police haven't found him, not yet.
0:48.0	Snowden steps back out into the street and looks both ways.
0:51.0	The coast seems to be clear, and while no one would suspect he's been hiding out in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Hong Kong.
0:58.0	Snowden still knows he has to be careful.
1:02.0	By now, Snowden has become one of the most famous people in the world.
1:06.0	He's the subject of an international manhunt, and the United States government is doing everything a can to capture him and send them back home, where he'll face charges of treason under the Espionage Act.
1:17.0	Snowden never had any illusion about the danger he was bound to face.
1:21.0	Just days ago, he met with a group of journalists in Hong Kong and blew the whistle on the US government.
1:27.0	Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency was spying on American citizens and gathering an unthinkable amount of private data, from phone calls to emails to other online activity.
1:38.0	The revelations immediately caused an international uproar.
1:42.0	People across the world began debating the trade-offs between privacy and national security.
1:47.0	And while many believe Snowden is heroic, others, including the American government, want to see him locked up in prison.
1:54.0	So Snowden has been hiding out in a safe house, but soon he's going to try to escape.
2:01.0	Still jittery from the close call with the police car, Snowden scans the street.
2:06.0	He needs to get to the Hong Kong airport so he can fly to Ecuador.
2:11.0	His attorneys believe that's where he stands the best chance of getting political asylum and remaining a free man.
	...

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