Booz Allen Wants to Make Two Things Clear on Ex-Employee Edward Snowden
Government IT contractor Booz Allen has updated its official statement on employee Edward Snowden to let everyone know — in case it wasn't obvious enough — that he doesn't work there anymore. The company website has been updated to say that Snowden was "terminated" for "violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy." However, that termination happened on Monday, three days after The Guardian made him famous, and not when he took a leave of absence and flew to Hong Kong with reams of sensitive company documents.
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They also took the opportunity to clarify that Snowden's salary was $122,000, not the $200,000+ that he had cited to reporter Glenn Greenwald. However, the original statement in the first Guardian article about Snowden stated, "He has had "a very comfortable life" that included a salary of roughly $200,000," which is just vague enough to imply that it could be a reference to earlier jobs. It's also possible that there could have been incentive clauses or other bonuses built into his Booz Allen contract that might have raised his yearly income, even if his base salary was still $122,000. Or maybe it's just attempt by the company to keep prospective new hires from getting their hopes up.
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The statement also says Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen for "less than 3 months," which would mean his start date was on or after March 10 of this year. Greenwald has stated that he first began talking to Snowden in February, which would seem to confirm that he had been planning his move before he even started the job.
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U.S. officials have also said on Tuesday that they're preparing federal charges against Snowden, although no timetable has been given on when they might be formally filed.
