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.
