The British government approached the New York Times about destroying documents it obtained pertaining to the National Security Agency’s British intelligence partner Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which were leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Reuters reported Friday.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that Times executive editor Jill Abramson stonewalled the request from a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. British officials never followed up on the request, the sources said.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Washington told Reuters that the British government would not “get into the specifics about our efforts but it should come as no surprise if we approach a person who is in possession of some or all of this material.”
“We have presented a witness statement to the court in Britain which explains why we are trying to secure copies of over 58,000 stolen intelligence documents – to protect public safety and our national security,” the spokesman added.
A spokeswoman for the Times declined to comment.
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, revealed earlier this month that U.K. security agents entered that newspaper’s offices to destroy hard drives that may have contained information from Snowden’s leaks.
