Feds Charge Snowden With Spying

Criminal complaint cites espionage, asks Hong Kong to hold him
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 21, 2013 5:29 PM CDT
Feds Charge Snowden With Spying
Edward Snowden, in a photo shot earlier this month in Hong Kong.   (AP Photo/The Guardian, File)

The US government has taken its first legal step against NSA leaker Edward Snowden, filing a criminal complaint that accuses him of espionage and theft of government property, reports the Washington Post. (ABC News notes the complaint was unsealed today, but filed June 14.) The complaint asks Hong Kong to detain Snowden, although it's not clear that authorities there even know where he is. So now what? The Justice Department will probably follow the criminal complaint with an indictment in the next several weeks, says the Post, and then begin the long process of trying to have Snowden extradited. (More Edward Snowden stories.)

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