Edward Snowden Warns Joe Biden Is Illegally Spying on European Leaders
Whistleblower reveals Biden 'deeply involved' in NSA surveillance operation
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Former CIA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden has warned that Democrat Joe Biden is "deeply involved" in a National Security Agency (NSA) operation to illegally spy on European leaders.
According to Snowden, who now lives in exile in Russia after fleeing the United States, says Biden has been working with intelligence officials in Denmark to spy on foreign leaders part of an NSA program.
The most notable targets of the alleged operation are German leaders Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank Walter-Steinmeier.
Snowden claims Merkel and Walter-Steinmeier are among several high-profile officials who were illegally spied on by the NSA.
The NSA reportedly acted with the cooperation and help of the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE), according to a European media investigation.
The spying allegations first came to light in 2013, thanks to NSA documents leaked by Snowden.
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Snowden’s leaks specifically revealed Merkel’s private cell phone had been monitored by the Obama administration.
The new revelations come as a result of multiple European news outlets – including Danish state broadcaster DR, German NDR, Swedish SVT, Norwegian NRK, and French Le Monde among others – obtaining access to internal reports and information from Danish Secret Service sources.
According to the investigation, politicians in Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and even Danish finance industries were also targeted by the NSA with the help of Danish spies.
The Danish government has reportedly known about the cooperation for years and forced FE leadership to step down in 2020 after discovering the full extent of the relationship following an internal investigation.
They did not, however, report the findings to any European Union allies.
The spying was primarily done through hijacking Danish electronic communications systems as the country has landing stations for subsea internet cables between numerous countries, such as Germany and Sweden.
By using politicians’ and officials’ phone numbers, authorities were able to pull texts and phone calls, while those being spied on were none the wiser.
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Snowden, who first made his revelations about the NSA while Biden was vice president, says the current president is “well-prepared” to answer the accusations and that there should be a requirement of “full disclosure” from both Denmark and the US.
"Biden is well-prepared to answer for this when he soon visits Europe since, of course, he was deeply involved in this scandal the first time around,” he tweeted.
"There should be an explicit requirement for full public disclosure not only from Denmark but their senior partner as well."
Biden is well-prepared to answer for this when he soon visits Europe since, of course, he was deeply involved in this scandal the first time around.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 30, 2021
There should be an explicit requirement for full public disclosure not only from Denmark, but their senior partner as well. https://t.co/TJL7gr6dy8
In response to explosive reports, Norway’s Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said they were “taking the allegations seriously,” while Sweden’s Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said he “demanded full information on these things.”
Neither the NSA nor the Danish Defence Intelligence Service has issued a comment yet.
Former German opposition leader and Merkel rival, Peer Steinbrück, who also reportedly had his communications monitored, told German broadcaster ARD that he considers the situation to be a “scandal.”
“It is grotesque that friendly intelligence services are indeed intercepting and spying on top representatives of other countries,” he said.
