Booz Allen Hamilton Fires Edward Snowden
To the surprise of nobody, Booz Allen Hamilton announced this morning that it had terminated NSA leader Edward Snowden’s appointment:
Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton has fired Edward Snowden, the computer technician who acknowledged leaking classified documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post, the company announced.
Booz Allen on Tuesday morning also called into question one detail Snowden gave about himself when it updated a statement it released Sunday evening with a single sentence: “Snowden, who had a salary at the rate of $122,000, was terminated June 10, 2013, for violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy,” the company said.
Snowden had told The Guardian that he had “a very comfortable life” that included “a salary of roughly 200,000.” He might have been also accounting for perks, bonuses or other income outside his work for Booz Allen — or he might have been exaggerating to make a point about the sacrifice he felt he was making by releasing the documents.
Like I said, not surprising. I’m not sure what to make of the difference between what Snowden’s statement about his salary and what his employer said. Perhaps it was exaggeration, perhaps Snowden is a person given to exaggerating his biography to some extent. Whatever the story is, perhaps the most interesting thing about all of this is that a 29 year old contractor was able to gain access to all this information. Beyond that, it does bring into question what government agencies are paying consulting firms like BAH. For example, it would be interesting to know if Snowden would be getting the same salary if he were working directly for the NSA instead of working as a contractor. If he earned more as a contractor than he would as an employee, that suggests we’re likely overpaying our contractors.
Now on to the bigger question: why hasn’t the NSA fired Booz Allen Hamilton?
There’s a smaller question to add: How is Snowden affording his travels? The hotel he was at in Hong Kong is $200 a day. Is the Guardian or WaPo paying his bills?
Snowden may have had a base salary of $122k. But if he was stationed in Hawaii, he doubtless would have had some sort of additional allowance to offset the high cost of living. That could easily boost his bottom line to near $200k.
Or underpaying our employees and thereby requiring the use of contractors who are outbidding us for talent.
How much did we pay BAH for his services? What’s the markup?
Employers emphasize the total compensation package. Booz typically has given a 10% contribution without employee matching. Even with health and other benefits I think $200K is a bit high .
@michael reynolds:
I’ll take the Guardian paying his bills for $500, Alex.
Still, depending what’s on his laptop, he might have a sizable future nest egg to realize . Maybe all this traveling is about soliciting bids.
@rudderpedals: Knowing the business, I would guess about a $175-200/hr billing contract if on a long term services contract, working on a government site.
His Wikipedia page characterizes him as a “system administrator” with a GED only. $200,000? What’s wrong with this picture?
Since we learned he was contacting an activist blogger and a Assange’s documentary filmmaker months prior to even getting his job at Booz, and that he was a Paulian, my assumption has been that he went into that job with a head full of sincerely held paulforums, prisonplanet & even Glenn Greenwald demagogic BS, and he used his position as an IT guy at BAH to scoop up what he could that seemed to confirm his theories (and for a conspiracist that’s just about everything). So he’d grab a pdf here off some manager’s share while he was configuring network storage for someone else, or he’d scoop up an unsecured power point presentation off of a bosses’ laptop while fixing some minor issue. I can’t see why an IT guy of 3mos would have intimate knowledge of programs and methods, so my guess is he’s combining the fragmented inconclusive evidence he managed to bring to China with him, his own detailed conspiracy theories he’s collected as a Paulian and finally personal delusions of grandeur, when claiming to Greenwald about all the ridiculous things he was capable of doing.
@Jeremy R:
Analyst overstated claims on NSA leaks, experts say
@Scott: At $122K he was grossing about $60/hr. Nice margins.
@Jeremy R:
I’m not surprised. Sorry, but this guy read like a narcissist and fabricator from day one.
I started out feeling sorry for him, partly because I thought he was younger than he is. But he’s 29, a grown-up even by my forgiving standards. I won’t shed too many tears when he goes to federal prison.