Guardian Teams up with New York Times over Snowden Documents

The Guardian has agreed with the New
York Times to give the U.S. newspaper
access to some classified documents
leaked by former National Security
Agency contractor Edward Snowden,
both papers said on Friday.

In a brief story posted on its website, the
Guardian said it "struck a partnership"
with the Times after the British
government threatened the Guardian
with legal action unless it either
surrendered or destroyed files it received
from Snowden about Government
Communications Headquarters -
Britain's equivalent of NSA.

"In a climate of intense pressure from
the U.K. government, the Guardian
decided to bring in a U.S. partner to
work on the GCHQ documents provided
by Edward Snowden. We are working in
partnership with the NYT and others to
continue reporting these stories," the
British newspaper said in a statement.

The Times' executive editor, Jill
Abramson, confirmed the collaboration.
"We don't usually comment on our
reporting before publication, but in this
case we will make an exception since it
is already public. The Times is reporting
on material from the Guardian as well
as other matters related to Edward
Snowden," the Times quoted her as
saying.

A source familiar with the matter said
the partnership deal had been struck
several weeks ago and that Abramson
was personally involved in negotiating
it.

The website Buzzfeed reported that
Scott Shane, a Times reporter who
covers national security and intelligence,
was working on a series of stories
expected to be published next month
jointly with the Guardian .

The Guardian said in its story that its
partnership with the Times would enable
it to "continue exposing mass
surveillance by putting the Snowden
documents on GCHQ beyond
government reach."

It said Snowden, who disclosed
documents on U.S. Internet and phone
surveillance programs in June and has
obtained asylum in Russia, was aware
of the deal.

The Guardian 's editor, Alan Rusbridger,
revealed earlier this week that under the
supervision of representatives of GCHQ,
Guardian staffers had destroyed
computer equipment containing
Snowden files after the newspaper was
threatened with possible legal action by
senior British government officials.

Rusbridger said he had put British
officials on notice that copies of material
which had been destroyed had been
sent outside British government
jurisdiction.

British authorities say they launched a
criminal investigation this week
following the temporary detention and
questioning at London's Heathrow
Airport of David Miranda, domestic
partner of Glenn Greenwald, a Brazil-
based Guardian writer who has led
coverage of leaks from Snowden and
communicated directly with the former
NSA contractor.

British officials have said that
Snowden's leaks have gravely damaged
national security and could put lives in
jeopardy if more secrets are disclosed.
The Times and the Guardian previously
collaborated on stories related to alleged
phone hacking by British tabloid
newspapers and on coverage of secret
U.S. military and diplomatic documents
made available by U.S. Army soldier
Bradley Manning to the WikiLeaks
website.

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