U.S. charges Snowden under the Espionage Act
On 21 June 2013 federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Edward Snowden for theft of government property and two Espionage Act counts over the unauthorised disclosure of national defence information.
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On 21 June 2013 federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Edward Snowden for theft of government property and two Espionage Act counts over the unauthorised disclosure of national defence information. Two days later he flew from Hong Kong to Moscow, where he remained stuck in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Edward Snowden
PersonDirect responsibility
verified
U.S. charges Snowden under the Espionage Act. Actor role on this event; contribution size permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction). Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 stored because contributions.size is NOT NULL.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
No public driver impacts are listed for this fact.
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.theguardian.comchecked 2026-10-15 GET 200, keywords: snowden+espionage+charg · verified
- 2.latimes.comchecked 2026-10-15 GET 200, keywords: snowden+espionage+charg · verified
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
No causal path is recorded: this fact is not linked to a driver.
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). U.S. charges Snowden under the Espionage Act. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-charges-snowden-espionage-act-2013-06-21
https://factrail.ai/facts/us-charges-snowden-espionage-act-2013-06-21
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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