One of the biggest criticisms against exiled vigilante Edward Snowden has been that he didn’t go through the requisite steps within the system before electing to go rogue. Snowden, who continues to live in exile from the United States, has publicly gone on air to help quell these allegations.

“Yes. I had reported these clearly problematic programs to more than ten distinct officials, none of whom took any action to address them. As an employee of a private company rather than a direct employee of the US government, I was not protected by US whistleblower laws, and I would not have been protected from retaliation and legal sanction for revealing classified information about lawbreaking in accordance with the recommended process.”

Obama himself had accused Snowden of emotionally jumping the gun, suggesting he was a passionate man “whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.”, pointing to Policy Directive 19.

via Washington Post