After former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden spilled some of the country’s secrets seven years ago, he brought in more than $1.2 million in speaking fees, Politico report.
Justice Department attorneys released the total in a new federal court filing on Friday in Alexandria, Virginia.
A look into Snowden’s profits is part of an ongoing lawsuit that is geared toward trying to take away any earnings he made after releasing classified information he was privy to while working out of the NSA, according to Politico.
Between September 2015 and May 2020, his booking agent, American Program Bureau of Newton, Massachusetts, reported setting up 67 virtual speeches and panel-discussion appearances.
The most money he made for an appearance was $50,000 for a speech to Hong Kong-based brokerage firm CLSA in 2015, according to the court filing.
He earned $35,000 for an appearance at Piston ad agency in Kuwait, $32,000 for a Portuguese tourism bureau speaking event and $30,000 each for a “Get Motivated” lineup of motivational speakers and an appearance at the Park City Performing Arts Foundation.
He also received payments from colleges and universities. When he spoke to the University of Waterloo, he received $25,000. Other speaking engagements at schools include payouts of $20,000 each for speaking to audiences at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Winnipeg, $18,000 each from Middlebury College and the University of Alberta, $15,000 from the University of Pittsburgh, $14,000 from Ontario Colleges and $12,000 each from Georgetown and Ohio Wesleyan Universities.
The speakers’ bureau did take a cut of the amount the hosts paid, according to Politico. A federal magistrate judge ruled last week that APB can keep the amount of its commissions confidential.
The federal lawsuit filed last year claims Snowden broke several agreements involving classified information by failing to clear his speeches and his recent book, “Permanent Record,” with the NSA and CIA in advance.
Snowden’s attorneys acknowledge he didn’t follow proper protocol, but say their client wouldn’t be treated fairly.
Last December, U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady sided with the government and ruled that the government is entitled to proceeds from the book and profits from Snowden’s speeches.
Now, what that amount totals is what is up for debate.
Snowden has avoided answering formal requests about his earnings and the contents of his speeches against the advice of his attorneys that he cooperate, according to Politico.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan entered sanctions against him earlier this month that prohibited Snowden from disputing most of the calculations the government has made about his earnings.
In April, Macmillan Publishing Group agreed to direct to the government all future royalties due to Snowden. The group was not required to recover or pay back to the government the undisclosed advance he received for the book.
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