Snowden Memoir Draws Justice Dept. Fire

The Dept. of Justice lawsuit asks for a restraining order and preliminary injunction compelling Edward Snowden’s publisher Macmillan to “freeze all assets in Macmillan’s possession relating to Permanent Record that belong to Snowden or his agents, assignees, or others acting on his behalf.”

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice sued famous whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. DOJ is seeking to recover any financial gain Snowden receives from publication of memoir, Permanent Record, which recently arrived in bookstores.

DOJ not only has filed suit against Snowden, but also named his publisher, Macmillan, notes Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

“U.S. attorneys argue that the manuscript was not submitted for review to the intelligence agencies Snowden worked for, and that the publication violates the nondisclosure agreements Snowden signed in exchange for getting access to classified information,” he explains.

In 2013, Snowden leaked to various publications, including The Guardian and the Washington Post, a cache of top-secret documents that exposed the U.S. government’s domestic surveillance and data collection efforts. Snowden has since been living in Russia and out of the reach of U.S. authorities.

“The suit does not seek to bar publication of the book, but is asking for damages for any proceeds Snowden has already received—in other words DOJ want to claw back the advance already paid,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“The DoJ suit asks for a restraining order and preliminary injunction compelling Macmillan to ‘freeze all assets in Macmillan’s possession relating to Permanent Record that belong to Snowden or his agents, assignees, or others acting on his behalf.’ In addition, the government is asking for the contracts between Macmillan and Snowden, and his agents; an accounting of all proceeds earned by Permanent Record; a description of all persons and entities with financial interests relating to Permanent Record and the nature of those interests; and a description of the process of disbursing funds to Snowden,” Albanese reports.

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.