A former CIA employee Edward Snowden, 29, faces a criminal investigation led by the Department of Justice

NSA leak source Edward Snowden faces DoJ investigation and diplomatic game

By Alastair Jamieson and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

Edward Snowden, a defense contractor and former CIA communications expert, has revealed himself as the man behind the leaks detailing secret National Security Agency programs monitoring phone and Internet use. The Atlantic's Steve Clemons, Maria Teresa Kumar from Voto Latino, and Washington Post Columnist Jonathan Capehart join Karen Finney to break down Snowden's reasons for the leak and what this means for the debate over privacy and national security.

A former CIA employee who identified himself as the source of leaked information about a vast National Security Agency surveillance program signaled the start of a game of international diplomacy Monday.
Edward Snowden, 29, faces a criminal investigation led by the Department of Justice - but is reportedly holed up in a hotel room in Hong Kong in an attempt to thwart moves to prosecute him.
He told The Guardian, whose reporters are alongside him in Hong Kong, that he had exposed huge amounts of classified information out of conscience to protect "basic liberties for people around the world."
Snowden, who is employed by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, hinted that he may seek diplomatic protection from Iceland.
Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter who broke the story, said Monday he did not believe any U.S. authorities had yet been in contact with Snowden. "To my knowledge, they do not even know where he is," he told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie from Hong Kong.

Philippe Lopez / AFP - Getty Images

A security guard stands outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong on Monday.

The Guardian reported last week that the Obama administration had been collecting Verizon customers’ phone records. Shortly after, The Washington Post reported on a massive NSA program called PRISM, a surveillance program that gathered vast amounts of information about foreigners abroad from the world’s largest Web services.
The disclosures led President Barack Obama to declare: “Nobody is listening to your telephone calls.” Late last week, the president defended the programs and said Americans must understand that there are “some tradeoffs” between privacy concerns and keeping Americans safe.
Snowden traveled to the former British colony – now part of mainland China - on May 20 because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent."
Hong Kong, which has a separate legal status from Beijing despite being part of China since 1997, has an extradition treaty with the Washington. However, Beijing has a veto over the extradition requests in cases where China’s foreign interests would be affected.
"The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me,” Snowden told The Guardian. “My predisposition is to seek asylum in a country with shared values. The nation that most encompasses this is Iceland. They stood up for people over Internet freedom. I have no idea what my future is going to be.
"They could put out an Interpol note. But I don't think I have committed a crime outside the domain of the U.S. I think it will be clearly shown to be political in nature."
Experts and Hong Kong lawmakers said it was unlikely China would defy a U.S. request.
“We work very closely with U.S. authorities,” Regina Ip, Hong Kong legislator and former security secretary, told the Wall Street Journal, adding that Snowden’s choice of location was “really being based on unfortunate ignorance.”