MISSEDLINK

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• "Laura Poitras - the documentary filmmaker - sended an email message to him !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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• "which read - "any chance to meet - next week ?""

 

 

 

 

 

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• "to touch base about something - though best to do in person !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "they arranged a meeting - in the lobby at the hotel - at Laura’s insistence !"

 

 

 

 

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• "they moved tables twice - before beginning their conversation - to be sure that nobody could hear them !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "Laura then said she had an - "extremely important - and sensitive matter" - to discuss !"

 

 

 

 

• "and caution - was critical !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "she had received a series - of anonymous emails !"

 

 

 

 

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• "from someone - who seemed both honest - and serious !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he claimed to have access - to some extremely secret - and incriminating documents !"

 

 

 

 

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• "about the NSA - and its own citizens !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "after three weeks he received an email - from a tech expert !"

 

 

 

 

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• "the tech person then sent a package - he tored open the envelope - and found two USB thumb drives !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "containing detailed instructions - for using various computer programs - designed to provide maximum security !"

 

 

 

 

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• "as well as numerous passphrases - to encrypted email accounts - and other programs !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the day after the package arrived - Laura told him - they needed to speak urgently !"

 

 

 

 

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• "but only through - OTR - off-the-record - chat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "an encrypted instrument - for talking online securely !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "within an hour - the source himself - emailed him !"

 

 

 

 

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• "this email came from - "Verax" - Verax means "truth teller"  !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the subject line read - "need to talk"  !"

 

 

 

 

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• "he suggested that they speak - via OTR - and provided his user name !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "within fifteen minutes - his computer sounded a bell-like chime !"

 

 

 

 

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• "signaling that he had signed on - slightly nervous - he clicked on his name !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and typed "hello" - and got an answer - he found himself speaking directly to someone !"

 

 

 

 

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• "who he assumed had - at that point - revealed a number of secret documents !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "about NSA programs - and who wanted to reveal more !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the source - whose name - and place of employment - were still unknown to him !"

 

 

 

 

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• "asked if he would come - to Hong Kong - to meet ?!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "what did he hope - to achieve ?!"

 

 

 

 

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• "he wanted to spark - a worldwide debate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

• "about privacy - and Internet freedom !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "then he asked - if he could see some documents - to better understand the types ?!"

 

 

 

 

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• "he received a file - containing roughly - twenty-five documents !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• ""just a very small taste - the tip of the tip - of the iceberg" - he explained !"

 

 

 

 

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• "he un-zipped the file - saw the list of documents - and randomly clicked on one of them !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "at the top of the page - in red letters - a code appeared !"

 

 

 

 

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• ""top secret//comint/noforn/" - this meant the document - had been designated top secret !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "pertained to communications intelligence - comint - and was not for distribution !"

 

 

 

 

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• "to foreign nationals - including international organizations - or coalition partners - noforn !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "nothing of this significance - had been leaked before !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "that first document - was a training manual - for officials !"

 

 

 

 

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• "to teach analysts - about new capabilities !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it could query - email addresses - IP Internet protocol locator data - telephone numbers !"

 

 

 

 

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• "and would receive in response - email content - telephone "metadata" - chat logs !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the next document was a - top secret - PowerPoint presentation !"

 

 

 

 

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• "entitled - "Prism/US-984XN Overview"  !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and described collection - directly from the servers - of Microsoft !"

 

 

 

 

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• "Yahoo - Google - Facebook - Paltalk - AOL - Skype - YouTube - Apple !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "from the first glimpse - of just these few documents - he knew two things !"

 

 

 

 

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• "he needed to get to Hong Kong - right away !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and substantial institutional support - was needed - to do this reporting !"

 

 

 

 

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• "this meant fully involving - "the Guardian"  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he went to a store to buy a laptop - that would serve as his - "air gapped machine"  !"

 

 

 

 

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• "a computer - that never connected - to the Internet !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "as they arrived in the vicinity of the airport - Laura pulled a thumbdrive !"

 

 

 

 

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• "out of her backpack - "guess - what this is ?!""

 

 

 

 

 

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• "she asked with a look - of intense seriousness !"

 

 

 

 

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• ""the documents" - she said !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

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• "all - of them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "after the plane took off - he pulled out his new air gapped computer !"

 

 

 

 

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• "inserted Laura’s thumbdrive - and followed her instructions - for loading the files !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "for the next sixteen hours - he did nothing but read !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "curious and eager taking notes - on document - after document !"

 

 

 

 

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• "many of the files were as shocking - as that initial PowerPoint presentation !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "a lot of them - were worse !"

 

 

 

 

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• "one of the first he read - was an order !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "from the secret - foreign intelligence surveillance act court - FISA !"

 

 

 

 

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• "he had never seen a - FISA court order - before !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "all of its rulings - were automatically designated - top secret !"

 

 

 

 

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• "this one text - was amazing for several reasons - it described !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "Verizon Business - all call detail records !"

 

 

 

 

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• "for communications - including local telephone calls !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "between the USA - and abroad !"

 

 

 

• "and wholly - within the USA !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he not only knew about it - but had the secret court order - as proof !"

 

 

 

 

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• "moreover - it specified - that it was authorized !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "by Section 215 - of the Patriot Act !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it was this radical interpretation - no politician thought !"

 

 

 

 

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• "that this law - could be interpreted - that way !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "yet that was exactly - what this court order did - open on his laptop - as he flew to Hong Kong !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he instantly recognized - the order’s significance !"

 

 

 

 

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• "its exposure would trigger - a political consternation !"

 

 

 

 

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• "with following calls for - transparency - and accountability !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and this was just one - of hundreds of top secret documents - he read on his way to Hong Kong !"

 

 

 

 

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• "he had in his possession - on the plane - thousands of documents !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "that they had desperately tried - to hide !"

 

 

 

 

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• "there was indisputably - evidence !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "as he continued reading - two things struck him - about the archive !"

 

 

 

 

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• "the first was - how extraordinarily well organized - it was !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the source had created many folders - and then sub-folders - and sub-sub-folders !"

 

 

 

 

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• "every last document - had been placed exactly - where it belonged !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he never found - a single misplaced - or misfiled document !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "there was no question - that he had carefully reviewed - every document !"

 

 

 

 

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• "that he had understood - their meaning - then meticulously placed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "each one - in an elegantly organized - structure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the other striking facet - of the archive was !"

 

 

 

 

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• "one of the first folders was titled - "Boundless Informant"  !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "NSA - lied to Congress !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "this folder contained dozens of documents - showing elaborate statistics !"

 

 

 

 

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• "on telephone - and email data - in the USA !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "for years - various senators had asked - for a rough estimate ?!"

 

 

 

 

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• "the officials insisted - they were unable to answer !"

 

 

 

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• "because they did not - and could not - maintain such data !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "in sixteen hours of barely interrupted reading - he managed to get through !"

 

 

 

 

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• "only a small fraction of the archive - but as the plane landed in Hong Kong !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he knew two things for certain - first - the source was !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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• "highly sophisticated - and politically astute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "evident in his recognition - of the significance - of most of the documents !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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• "he was also highly rational - the way he chose !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "analyzed - and described - the thousands of documents - he had in his possession - proved that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "second - it would be very difficult - to deny !"

 

 

 

 

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• "his status - as a classic whistle-blower !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the harder it was for them - to find something against the source !"

 

 

 

 

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• "( the commonly used claims by them - "unstable" - "naive" - were not going to work here ! )"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the more powerful the effect - of the source’s disclosures will be !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "shortly before landing - he read one final file !"

 

 

 

 

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• "although it was entitled - "Readme_first" - he saw it for the first time - only at the very end !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "this document was another explanation - from the source !"

 

 

 

 

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• "for why he had chosen - to do what he did !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but this document had facts - the others did not !"

 

 

 

 

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• "it included the source’s name - the first time - he learned it !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "along with possibilities - for what could be done - once he identified himself !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the note ended - this way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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• "citizenship - carries with it - a duty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "for example to first police - one’s own government !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

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• "before seeking - to correct others !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "there has to be more oversight - and more accountability !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he would be satisfied when this - and the behaviour of them - were revealed !"

 

 

 

 

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• "what the NSA - feared - was light !"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "we all - have to value privacy - in the whole world !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"