In an open-to-the-public live chat on The Guardian’s website on Monday, Edward Snowden, the self-proclaimed source of recently leaked top secret National Security Agency documents, was asked about his salary as an NSA contractor working for Booz Allen Hamilton.
“Did you lie about your salary?” a reader asked Snowden “What is the issue there? Why did you tell Glenn Greenwald that your salary was $200,000 a year, when it was only $122,000 (according to the firm that fired you.)”
Snowden said that $200,000 was his “career high” salary.
“I was debriefed by Glenn and his peers over a number of days, and not all of those conversations were recorded,” Snowden wrote. “The statement I made about earnings was that $200,000 was my ‘career high’ salary. I had to take pay cuts in the course of pursuing specific work. Booz was not the most I’ve been paid.”
