Whistleblower for the win.
And, which I'm sure will come as a surprise to no one, our own government doesn't seem to have a clue what the law is. None other than Nancy Pelosi found herself being booed for saying in a speech that Snowden broke the law. And perhaps he did (as a whistleblower, not as a spy, IMHO), but here's the crucial factoid:
Pelosi defended Obama's handling of the surveillance programs, noting that he met with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board for the first time on Friday. The federal board helps address concerns with the NSA's surveillance programs.
"The fact is that you should reject any notion that President Obama's actions have anything to do with what President Bush was doing or was done," Pelosi said, adding that there was no Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court under the Bush administration.
Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307217-pelosi-booed-for-saying-nsa-leaker-snowden-violated-the-lawSo Pelosi claims there was no FISA court under Bush. But Obama was elected in 2008 and inaugurated in 2009. The FISA act dates to 2001, so there very certainly WAS a FISA court under Bush.
And I find it amusing that Hong Kong allowed Snowden to depart because the U.S. couldn't even make a request for extradition in conformity with international law. That's just plain sad -- not that Snowden escaped the net, but that the U.S., with all it's over-paid lawyers, can't even prepare a request for extradition that complies with international law.