US seeks justice in recipes from Edward Snowden's book

The US government on Tuesday called for the seizure of earnings from the autobiography of whistleblower Edward Snowden, released the same day, and the income he gets from his public interventions.

The United States filed a civil complaint for "breach of contract" against this former CIA employee and ex-contractor of the NSA intelligence agency, who has been exiled to Russia since denouncing mass surveillance of communications in 2013. and the internet in his country.

The former 36-year-old computer scientist is already charged with criminal espionage and theft of state secrets. But this time, the US government wants to cut the food.

"We do not allow individuals to get rich at the expense of the United States," said Jody Hunt, a senior official at the Justice Department, quoted in a statement.

In the lawsuit filed in a federal court in Alexandria, near Washington, the government accuses him of publishing a book containing information about the CIA and the NSA "without submitting the manuscript" to his former employers in violation of the law. confidentiality clauses of his employment contracts.

"It's hard to imagine a better certificate of authenticity than a complaint from the US government," Snowden responded on Twitter.

Released simultaneously in twenty countries, the book is published in the United States by Metropolitan Books (Macmillan) under the title "Permanent record". The French version entitled "Mémoire vive" is published by Seuil.

In its complaint, the government also accuses Edward Snowden of having given in recent years several paid speeches without the approval of his former employers, still in violation of his commitments.

His book and his speeches have hurt the United States "by eroding confidence in the CIA and the NSA" while "Snowden has unjustly enriched the process," reads the complaint.

As compensation, the government is claiming all the revenues from Edward Snowden's autobiography and possible film adaptations, as well as the amounts of money he receives for his public interventions.

He is asking the court to issue an urgent injunction to prevent his US publishers from transferring funds.

The powerful ACLU Freedom Advocacy Organization has been rescuing the whistleblower. "The book does not contain any government secrets that have not already been published by respected media," said Ben Wizner, director of technology and rights issues.