Former CIA and NSA employee source of intelligence leaks

[KRonn]

Snowden, delusions of grandeur! Perhaps gave a little look into his psyche, which gives some additional insight as to why he did what he did?

[citizen k]

BERLIN (AP) — Germany summoned the U.S. ambassador in Berlin on Friday following the arrest of a man reported to have spied for the United States, heightening friction between the two countries over alleged U.S. eavesdropping in Germany.
U.S. Ambassador John B. Emerson was called in "in connection with an investigation by the federal prosecutor," the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The U.S. envoy "was asked to help in the swift clarification" of the case, it added.
Federal prosecutors say a 31-year-old German man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence services. They did not identify the suspect or the intelligence services.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters that Chancellor Angela Merkel been personally informed of the arrest.
He declined to comment on reports by Der Spiegel magazine and the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that the man worked for Germany's foreign intelligence service, known by its German acronym BND.
The newspapers, which didn't identify their sources, said the man was suspected of passing on information about a German parliamentary committee investigating the activities of U.S. and other intelligence agencies in Germany. He claimed to have worked with U.S. intelligence since 2012, they reported.
Seibert said members of the parliamentary panel had also been informed of the arrest.
Reports that the National Security Agency spied on German citizens, including on Merkel's cellphone, have caused friction between Berlin and Washington since they were first published last year, based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Martina Renner, a member of the opposition Left Party on the parliamentary panel, said the case indicated that anyone who examined Snowden's revelations in detail was subject to scrutiny by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Her panel heard testimony Thursday from two former NSA employees, Thomas Drake and William Binney.
"If the media reports (about the case) are confirmed then there can't just be a legal response, there also has to be a political response," she said.
In his testimony, Drake claimed that cooperation between the NSA and Germany's BND greatly increased after the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. He described the German spy agency as an "appendage" of the NSA.
Seibert said Merkel discussed "foreign policy matters" in a telephone conversation with President Barack Obama late Thursday. He said the conversation focused on Ukraine but wouldn't say whether the arrest was also discussed.
The U.S. National Security Council declined to comment Friday and BND didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

[citizen k]

Germany asks top U.S. intelligence official to leave over spy scandal
Reuters
By Madeline Chambers


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany asked the top U.S. intelligence official at the Berlin embassy on Thursday to leave the country, a highly unusual step reflecting the deep anger within Angela Merkel's government at the discovery of two suspected U.S. spies within a week.

The scandal has plunged ties between Germany and one of its closest allies to a new low following last year's revelations from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden about widespread surveillance of Germans, including Merkel.

"The request was made in light of the ongoing investigation by the chief federal prosecutor and questions that have been raised for months about the activities of U.S. intelligence services in Germany," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

On Wednesday, Berlin said it had discovered a suspected U.S. spy in the defence ministry. That came just days after a German foreign intelligence worker was arrested on suspicion of being a CIA informant and admitted passing documents to a U.S. contact.

Merkel delivered her strongest words yet on the alleged espionage, which she said belonged to the era of the Cold War.

"From my point of view, spying on allies ... is a waste of energy. We have so many problems, we should focus on the important things," the chancellor told reporters.

"In the Cold War maybe there was general mistrust. Today we are living in the 21st century. Today there are completely new threats," she said.

Merkel has come under pressure to take action against the United States, given public anger about the spying allegations.

Germans value their privacy highly due to memories of pervasive snooping by the Communist East German Stasi as well as the Nazis' Gestapo.

Seibert said the government took the events very seriously. It was essential for Germany to work with its Western partners, especially the United States, but that required "mutual trust and openness", he added.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the information that the United States appeared to have obtained was "laughable", contrasting that with the "disproportionate and serious political damage" that the scandal had caused.

[Sheilbh]

Give me the French any day

[Zanza]

Yes, we should re-evaluate our relationship with the US. Like the French did in 1966.

[Malthus]

Meh, allies spy on each other all the time. Getting caught is bad publicity, but it is naive to think it isn't happening. Same as when the US gets upset over Israel spying on it.

[Sheilbh]

Yes, we should re-evaluate our relationship with the US. Like the French did in 1966.

Build nukes and an independent military and maybe you can.

Until then Germany's throwing a tantrum about reality and increasingly a wealthy authoritarians' best Western shill. That re-assessing the relationship with the US is thought of is, to me, mind-boggling. The only alternative - short of building a German military - Russia.

[Zanza]

Meh, allies spy on each other all the time. Getting caught is bad publicity, but it is naive to think it isn't happening. Same as when the US gets upset over Israel spying on it.

The question the German government has to answer is why we still treat the US like our Cold War protector with all its privileges and don't move the relationship to a more normal level that we also have with other friendly nations. That's the naivety in the German government. It likes to see itself as a first class partner of the US, when the US has made abundantly clear that they don't see us that way. We will obviously remain friends with the US as we share a lot of interests with them. But we need to be realistic about the level of trust and understanding for our concerns we can expect.

[Zanza]

Yes, we should re-evaluate our relationship with the US. Like the French did in 1966.

Build nukes and an independent military and maybe you can.

Until then Germany's throwing a tantrum about reality and increasingly a wealthy authoritarians' best Western shill. That re-assessing the relationship with the US is thought of is, to me, mind-boggling. The only alternative - short of building a German military - Russia.

I have no idea what you are even talking about and why you think that has any relevance to the current affair and the debate around it in Germany.

[garbon]

The question the German government has to answer is why we still treat the US like our Cold War protector with all its privileges and don't move the relationship to a more normal level that we also have with other friendly nations. That's the naivety in the German government. It likes to see itself as a first class partner of the US, when the US has made abundantly clear that they don't see us that way. We will obviously remain friends with the US as we share a lot of interests with them. But we need to be realistic about the level of trust and understanding for our concerns we can expect.

But we spy on everyone.

[Valmy]

But we spy on everyone.

And here are the consequences of that policy decision.

[Zanza]

But we spy on everyone.

Fine. Do it from abroad or illegally then. There is no need for the German government to facilitate America spying on Germans in Germany. That's just naive by our government and should stop.

[garbon]

But we spy on everyone.

Fine. Do it from abroad or illegally then. There is no need for the German government to facilitate America spying on Germans in Germany. That's just naive by our government and should stop.

Well there is certainly someone naive here.

[garbon]

But we spy on everyone.

And here are the consequences of that policy decision.

Sure, I certainly wasn't saying that there can't be ramifications. Just that I hope the bit Zanza was expressing didn't stem from the spying bit as that's not really an indicator of how we feel about a country.

[Malthus]

Meh, allies spy on each other all the time. Getting caught is bad publicity, but it is naive to think it isn't happening. Same as when the US gets upset over Israel spying on it.

The question the German government has to answer is why we still treat the US like our Cold War protector with all its privileges and don't move the relationship to a more normal level that we also have with other friendly nations. That's the naivety in the German government. It likes to see itself as a first class partner of the US, when the US has made abundantly clear that they don't see us that way. We will obviously remain friends with the US as we share a lot of interests with them. But we need to be realistic about the level of trust and understanding for our concerns we can expect.

The Cold War died with the Soviet Union - at least, so we all assumed. Putin did not get the memo, though ...