Any money former National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden makes from his recent memoir and paid speeches must be handed to the U.S. government, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. In a brief opinion in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Judge Liam O’Grady said the federal government was entitled to the money because Snowden disclosed classified information without approval. “The contractual language of the Secrecy Agreements is unambiguous,” wrote the judge. “Snowden accepted employment and benefits conditioned upon prepublication review obligations.” Snowden has been charged with espionage since 2013, when he exposed surveillance documents in one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. history. The Justice Department, unable to put Snowden on trial while he’s in exile in Russia, instead moved to cut off his earnings from his book, Permanent Record, and from his paid speaking engagements.
