Snowden through four lenses: a reporter, a CIA officer, an FBI agent, a libertarian
October 13, 2026 · 19 min read
Cybersecurity journalist Nicole Perlroth, former CIA covert officer Andrew Bustamante and former FBI agent Chris Tarbell each take up Edward Snowden alongside the intelligence agencies, the NSA, surveillance and the limits of the law, and libertarian Dave Smith raises the idea of pardoning him. Snowden remains a test case for how much secret surveillance a democracy should accept, so it helps to hear from people who reported on that system, worked inside it and argue against it.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Perlroth's verdict: neither hero nor villain. She is grateful for the debate and critical of how the documents were reported and released.
- Bustamante's verdict: a criminal in the eyes of the law and a sad case. He says bulk metadata collection kept Americans safer.
- Tarbell's verdict: a bad person, for not following whistleblower rules and for exposing US capabilities.
- Smith wants Trump to consider a pardon. Rogan says that if Snowden exposed illegal activity, only those who want to keep breaking the law should fear him.
- Perlroth's line: object to surveillance used for censorship and repression. Hacking world leaders' phones is what most spy agencies do.
- Before judging any disclosure, ask what else was happening at the time.
- Keep three questions apart: was it legal, was it right, was it done with care.
- When someone says abuse would be hard, ask who would find out.
- Abuse happens: Perlroth and Tarbell both cite NSA staff who spied on girlfriends or ex-girlfriends.
- Tarbell's warning: disclosed methods teach criminals and terrorists to change tactics.
- Bustamante's rule: before blaming a conspiracy, check for incompetence.
- Notice what you give away: house photos on Facebook and a heartbeat from a watch (Tarbell), apps and phone companies (Bustamante).
- Perlroth's fixes: multifactor authentication, and stop reusing passwords. Tarbell adds a password manager and security updates.
- Bustamante's caution: basic hygiene stops opportunistic hackers, but a determined, targeted attacker will usually get in.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.