Snowden outwits DOJ
An interesting opinion piece from The Hill.
For some strange reason, it took the Department of Justice almost two weeks to file its request for extradition. And, according to Hong Kong officials, when the DOJ finally did so, the papers were not properly filled out. Meanwhile, Snowden’s passport was not revoked until June 22, almost two weeks after he came forward as the source of the NSA story, giving him ample time to plot his escape. The DOJ, in other words, screwed up what should have been an easy catch, giving President Obama one more good reason to fire Attorney General Eric Holder.
This does raise interesting questions. From the time that The Guardian first reported on Snowden and his revelations the scope of his actions were pretty clear. What was the US government waiting for since they are now claiming that his extradition is a matter of grave national importance? Of course we cannot know for certain what Honk Kong would have done with an earlier extradition request, but it does make one wonder.