In Snowden, a forthcoming graphic biography of Edward Snowden by political cartoonist Ted Rall, Rall shares new details of Snowden’s escape and refuge in Russia after leaking NSA data to the press. Below, EW presents these revelations exclusively, in advance of the book’s Aug. 25 publication, alongside commentary from Rall.
People have wondered if China let Snowden leave although his passport was invalidated by the US. Actually, there was no sneakiness by China. Snowden still had a valid passport when he left China. What happened was that the US State Department canceled his passport while he was in the air. He had been planning to transit via Moscow to Ecuador, but his passport was invalid by that point. That’s how he got stuck in Moscow: the Russian authorities couldn’t let him leave without a valid passport (and visa, if required) for where he was going.
Can Snowden ever leave Russia? Says Rall, “Snowden needs two things to leave Russia: an invitation from and/or visa to another country. Assuming he can travel internationally on his Russian-issued asylum document, he also needs a travel itinerary to that new host country that doesn’t pass over or transit through a nation that would arrest and deport him the United States. Practically speaking, it’s hard to imagine how he could manage that second feat. …. at one point he did have an invitation to travel to Ecuador. The problem was that he would have had to have flown over European countries that are US allies.”
Read the full interview HERE.
