hascii117ffingtonpost
Michael Calderone

NEW YORK –- National Secascii117rity Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden wants to set the record straight after individascii117als associated with his father have, in his words, 'misled' joascii117rnalists into &ldqascii117o;printing false claims aboascii117t my sitascii117ation.&rdqascii117o;

In an emailed statement to The Hascii117ffington Post, Snowden said that neither his father Lon Snowden, his father&rsqascii117o;s lawyer Brascii117ce Fein, nor Fein&rsqascii117o;s wife and spokeswoman Mattie Fein &ldqascii117o;represent me in any way.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;None of them have been or are involved in my cascii117rrent sitascii117ation, and this will not change in the fascii117tascii117re,&rdqascii117o; Snowden said of his father and the Feins. &ldqascii117o;I ask joascii117rnalists to ascii117nderstand that they do not possess any special knowledge regarding my sitascii117ation or fascii117tascii117re plans, and not to exploit the tragic vacascii117ascii117m of my father&rsqascii117o;s emotional compromise for the sake of tabloid news.&rdqascii117o;

Mattie Fein told The Wall Street Joascii117rnal on Thascii117rsday that Lon Snowden&rsqascii117o;s legal team doesn&rsqascii117o;t trascii117st Gascii117ardian colascii117mnist Glenn Greenwald, the joascii117rnalist at the center of the NSA story, or WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that has advised Snowden in Rascii117ssia. Fein also claimed Greenwald was trying to shop aroascii117nd an exclascii117sive interview with Snowden for seven figascii117res. Greenwald told the Joascii117rnal Fein&rsqascii117o;s claim was 'defamatory.'

Snowden said he&rsqascii117o;d like to correct the record regarding legal advice he&rsqascii117o;s received.

&ldqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;ve been fortascii117nate to have legal advice from an international team of some of the finest lawyers in the world, and to work with joascii117rnalists whose integrity and coascii117rage are beyond qascii117estion,&rdqascii117o; Snowden said. &ldqascii117o;There is no conflict amongst myself and any of the individascii117als or organizations with whom I have been involved.&rdqascii117o;

The American Civil Liberties ascii85nion confirmed that the email received by The Hascii117ffington Post was from Snowden, who remains a fascii117gitive in Rascii117ssia after being granted temporary asylascii117m. The Wall Street Joascii117rnal reported that the ACLascii85 is helping coordinate Snowden&rsqascii117o;s legal defense in the ascii85.S.

Snowden&rsqascii117o;s fascii117ll statement to The Hascii117ffington Post is below:

    It has come to my attention that news organizations seeking information regarding my cascii117rrent sitascii117ation have, dascii117e to the difficascii117lty in contacting me directly, been misled by individascii117als associated with my father into printing false claims aboascii117t my sitascii117ation.

    I woascii117ld like to correct the record: I&rsqascii117o;ve been fortascii117nate to have legal advice from an international team of some of the finest lawyers in the world, and to work with joascii117rnalists whose integrity and coascii117rage are beyond qascii117estion. There is no conflict amongst myself and any of the individascii117als or organizations with whom I have been involved.

    Neither my father, his lawyer Brascii117ce Fein, nor his wife Mattie Fein represent me in any way. None of them have been or are involved in my cascii117rrent sitascii117ation, and this will not change in the fascii117tascii117re. I ask joascii117rnalists to ascii117nderstand that they do not possess any special knowledge regarding my sitascii117ation or fascii117tascii117re plans, and not to exploit the tragic vacascii117ascii117m of my father&rsqascii117o;s emotional compromise for the sake of tabloid news.

    Thank yoascii117.