Snowden vindicated?

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jun 28, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Snowden vindicated?</h1>
                <h2><p>Edward Snowden has been called a traitor for revealing state secrets; namely, that America's phone calls were being monitored and logged. But "a panel of judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the program Snowden exposed was never legal," argues The</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Edward Snowden has been called a traitor for revealing state secrets; namely, that America's phone calls were being monitored and logged. But "a panel of judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the program Snowden exposed was never legal," <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/the-vindication-of-edward-snowden/392741/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">argues <em>The Atlantic</em></a>. "The Patriot Act does not authorize it..." So, no question the exiled Snowden reneged on his promise to protect classified info. But if the feds massive phone trawling was illegal, then "any punishment for revealing the phone dragnet would be unjust."</p>
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Edward Snowden has been called a traitor for revealing state secrets; namely, that America's phone calls were being monitored and logged. But "a panel of judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the program Snowden exposed was never legal," argues The Atlantic. "The Patriot Act does not authorize it..." So, no question the exiled Snowden reneged on his promise to protect classified info. But if the feds massive phone trawling was illegal, then "any punishment for revealing the phone dragnet would be unjust."

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,