Edward

Snowden Timeline of Events

1998
Date unknown
Dropped out of Arundel High School during his sophomore year after struggling with classes.

1999
Date unknown
Began to study computers at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC).

2001
Date unknown
Stopped attending AACC.

2002
February 2002
Began taking a Windows 2000 Server class from the Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins
University (CCIT@JHU).
NOTE: Snowden reported that he took classes at Johns Hopkins University (JHU); however, a university
spokesperson stated that they have no record of Edward Snowden ever attending.
NOTE: CCIT@JHU was a program run by the for-profit company Advanced Career Technologies, not JHU. JHU later
ended its relationship with the company in 2009, after which it shut down in 2012.
Date unknown
Attended Catonsville Community College.
NOTE: Catonsville Community College became Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in 1998, meaning he
attended the college during a time it no longer existed.
NOTE: A spokesperson for CCBC stated that they have no record of Edward Snowden ever attending.

2004
May 7, 2004
Enlisted in the army reserve as a special forces recruit.
NOTE: In an interview with The Guardian, Snowden claims to have had a four-month stint with the army in 2003.
This was later corrected by the US army to having occurred in 2004.
NOTE: Army officials noted that there was no evidence Snowden ever reported for duty.
September 28, 2004
Discharged from the army after breaking both legs.
NOTE: See May 7, 2004.
Date unknown
Began his studies at AACC once more.
2005
Date unknown
Stopped attending AACC for good.
Date unknown
Began working at the University of Marylands Center for Advanced Study of Language, a non-
classified facility, as a security specialist.
NOTE: In an interview with Wired, Snowden claims that this was a top-secret facility and that he was required to
have a high-level security clearance, for which he passed a polygraph.

2006
Date unknown
Attended a job fair focused on intelligence agencies where he was offered a position at the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Date unknown
Began working for the CIA where he was assigned to the global communications division, the
organization that dealt with computer-related issues.
Date unknown
Was sent to the CIAs secret school for technology specialists where he underwent full-time
training.

2007
Date unknown
Completed his training at the secret school for technology specialists.
March 2007
Was stationed with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for
computer network security.
NOTE: Snowden stated that he was considered the top technical and cybersecurity expert in that country and
was hand-picked by the CIA to support the president at the 2008 NATO summit in Romania.

2008
Date unknown
Started to consider whistleblowing.

2009
Date unknown
Experienced an incident where a CIA operative offered to help an arrested Swiss banker, whom
the operative deliberately got drunk and convinced to drive home, in exchange for the banker
to become an informant.
NOTE: Ueli Maurer, then-Head of the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports in Switzerland (and later
President of the Swiss Confederation), disputed Snowdens claims, stating that it would mean the CIA successfully
bribed the Geneva police and judiciary.
Date unknown
Resigned from the CIA after being suspected of trying to break into classified files.
Date unknown
Began working for Dell at Yokata Air Base, near Tokyo, as a subcontractor for the NSA.
Summer 2009
Attended one term in the Asia Program at the University of Maryland University College.
NOTE: Snowden had told others that his studies had taken him to Tokyo with the University of Maryland.
NOTE: A university spokesperson noted that they didnt have a traditional campus environment and a most of their
courses were online.

2011
Date unknown
Returned to Maryland as Dells lead technologist on the CIAs account.
Date unknown
Registered for an online Masters Degree program in Computer Security at the University of
Liverpool.
NOTE: A university spokesperson confirmed that Snowden was registered for an online Masters Degree program
but stated that he did not complete the program nor was active in his studies.

2012
March 2012
Reassigned to Hawaii as lead technologist for the NSAs information sharing office.
October 2012
Began to bring his concerns about widespread agency surveillance to his superiors (this
continued on for the next six months).
December 1, 2012
Contacted The Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald.

2013
March 12, 2013
Had a breaking point while working at Dell after seeing the Director of National Intelligence,
James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress.
NOTE: See Spring 2013.
March 15, 2013
Quit his job at Dell.
NOTE: See Spring 2013.


Spring 2013
Began working for Booz Allen Hamilton, where he sought employment in order to gather data
and then release details of the NSAs worldwide surveillance activity.
NOTE: Intelligence officials at Booz Allen Hamilton described Snowdens position there as a system administrator
rather than Snowdens claim of an infrastructure analyst.
NOTE: Forbes, and later Booz Allen Hamilton, made note that Snowden was employed at Booz Allen Hamilton for at
least three months prior to his departure to Hong Kong; however, him being employed at there as early as February
2013 would contradict the previous accounts of March 12, 2013 and March 15, 2013.
May 20, 2013
Flew to Hong Kong, telling his supervisors that he was returning to the mainland for epilepsy
treatment, but instead left Hawaii for Hong Kong.
June 5, 2013
First leaked documents are leaked, beginning with The Guardian.
June 9, 2013
Went public as the source of the leaked trove of documents.
June 10, 2013
Fired by Booz Allen Hamilton for violating the companys code of ethics and firm policy.
NOTE: The company also made note that Snowden exaggerated his yearly salary by $88,000, only actually making
$122,000 (he claimed to have been making $200,000 a year).
June 14, 2013
Charged by federal prosecutors for theft of government property, unauthorized
communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified
communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.