Former CIA analyst Edward Snowden was given an American whistleblowers’ award for exposing massive U.S. surveillance dragnet.
The Sam Adams Award “for Integrity in Intelligence” was presented to Mr. Snowden by four former U.S. intelligence officials at a secret meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, a day before he met his father, the RIA-Novosti government agency reported on Friday.
The award in the shape of a candlestick is named after Samuel A. Adams, a C.I.A. whistleblower during the Vietnam War and is given annually. In 2010 it was conferred on the WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.
The four who presented the award to Mr. Snowden — Coleen Rowley, ex-FBI official; Andrews Drake ex-N.S.A official; Ray McGovern, ex-official from C.I.A.; and Jesselyn Radack, exJustice Department official — refused to say where they met with Mr. Snowden or where he is living.
Interviewed by Russia’s government RT news channel, they said Mr. Snowden appeared in good spirits.