If you are an American citizen who is in possession of highly sensitive classified information, and you fly to Russia for “asylum,” you should expect to be debriefed by Russian military intelligence. You will tell them everything you know. Snowden was debriefed by Russian military intelligence, and he told them everything he knew. Everybody knows this.
The previous draft of this reply said some not-kind things about the author’s motivations; I deleted that and I’ll avoid speculating. But the idea that the Russian government has a “good track record” of helping whistleblowers is absurd.
If you become aware of bad things that the U.S. government is doing, and you want to become a whistleblower, talk to a trusted lawyer in the U.S. Do not fly to Russia and then talk to a lawyer. Russia does not have an independent court system and they don’t care about international law except to the extent that they can use it as a weapon. If you work for the NSA or something and you have access to a bunch of TS/SCI information and you take all of it to Russia because 3% of it (or even 30% of it!) involved the U.S. government doing bad things, you are a traitor to your country and to the free world and fair-minded people will not praise you as a hero.
If you work for the NSA or something and you have access to a bunch of TS/SCI information and you take all of it to Russia because 3% of it (or even 30% of it!) involved the U.S. government doing bad things, you are a traitor to your country and to the free world and fair-minded people will not praise you as a hero.
I think the word “all” is doing a lot of heavy-lifting in this claim.
I also think you’re trying to wash your own personal opinion of who is a traitor, for everyone’s opinion of who is a traitor.
But the idea that the Russian government has a “good track record” of helping whistleblowers is absurd.
I’m pointing out which countries are most likely to actually grant you asylum, as opposed to deport you back to the US where you will be imprisoned.
If you become aware of bad things that the U.S. government is doing, and you want to become a whistleblower, talk to a trusted lawyer in the U.S. Do not fly to Russia and then talk to a lawyer
I actually disagree with this, but I can change my mind if you give evidence. A lawyer will be risking imprisonment themselves if they actively help you at this stage. The most likely outcome is that a lawyer you contact at this stage will neither help nor hurt you. The worst case outcome which is also possible IMO, is that they will rat you out because of ideological disagreement or fear or some other reason.
I also think you’re trying to wash your own personal opinion of who is a traitor, for everyone’s opinion of who is a traitor.
I wasn’t making a claim about “everyone’s opinion.” A lot of useful idiots would think that you were a big hero.
I’m pointing out which countries are most likely to actually grant you asylum, as opposed to deport you back to the US where you will be imprisoned.
You’re pointing out enemies of democracy who would be happy to recruit intelligence assets from democratic countries in order to undermine global stability so that they can conquer more of eastern Europe and kill lots of innocent people.
A lawyer will be risking imprisonment themselves if they actively help you at this stage.
This is not true. It’s true that there are things a lawyer could do to “actively help” you that would be crimes—obviously they couldn’t help you by going out and buying you explosives so that you could bomb a post office. But a lawyer can absolutely advise you as to your best course of action without risking imprisonment. Glenn Greenwald was never charged with a crime in the U.S. Knowing how far they can go without breaking the law is part of the lawyer’s job; if they can’t help you in a certain way, they’ll tell you that. They will not have any legal obligation to turn you in.
If you are an American citizen who is in possession of highly sensitive classified information, and you fly to Russia for “asylum,” you should expect to be debriefed by Russian military intelligence. You will tell them everything you know. Snowden was debriefed by Russian military intelligence, and he told them everything he knew. Everybody knows this.
The previous draft of this reply said some not-kind things about the author’s motivations; I deleted that and I’ll avoid speculating. But the idea that the Russian government has a “good track record” of helping whistleblowers is absurd.
If you become aware of bad things that the U.S. government is doing, and you want to become a whistleblower, talk to a trusted lawyer in the U.S. Do not fly to Russia and then talk to a lawyer. Russia does not have an independent court system and they don’t care about international law except to the extent that they can use it as a weapon. If you work for the NSA or something and you have access to a bunch of TS/SCI information and you take all of it to Russia because 3% of it (or even 30% of it!) involved the U.S. government doing bad things, you are a traitor to your country and to the free world and fair-minded people will not praise you as a hero.
I think the word “all” is doing a lot of heavy-lifting in this claim.
I also think you’re trying to wash your own personal opinion of who is a traitor, for everyone’s opinion of who is a traitor.
I’m pointing out which countries are most likely to actually grant you asylum, as opposed to deport you back to the US where you will be imprisoned.
I actually disagree with this, but I can change my mind if you give evidence. A lawyer will be risking imprisonment themselves if they actively help you at this stage. The most likely outcome is that a lawyer you contact at this stage will neither help nor hurt you. The worst case outcome which is also possible IMO, is that they will rat you out because of ideological disagreement or fear or some other reason.
I wasn’t making a claim about “everyone’s opinion.” A lot of useful idiots would think that you were a big hero.
You’re pointing out enemies of democracy who would be happy to recruit intelligence assets from democratic countries in order to undermine global stability so that they can conquer more of eastern Europe and kill lots of innocent people.
This is not true. It’s true that there are things a lawyer could do to “actively help” you that would be crimes—obviously they couldn’t help you by going out and buying you explosives so that you could bomb a post office. But a lawyer can absolutely advise you as to your best course of action without risking imprisonment. Glenn Greenwald was never charged with a crime in the U.S. Knowing how far they can go without breaking the law is part of the lawyer’s job; if they can’t help you in a certain way, they’ll tell you that. They will not have any legal obligation to turn you in.
Bye