UK agents destroy Snowden files at Guardian_美文

UK agents destroy Snowden files at Guardian

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday that while Washington did not ask British authorities to detain Miranda, Britain had given the US a "heads up" about plans to question him.

A US security official told Reuters that one of the main purposes of Miranda's detention was to send a message to recipients of Snowden's materials that the British government was serious about shutting down the leaks.

Rusbridger said that a month ago, after The Guardian had published several stories based on Snowden's material, a British official advised him: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back."

Rusbridger said the paper was threatened with legal action by the government unless it destroyed or handed over the material from Snowden.

After further talks with the government, two "security experts" from Government Communications Headquarters, the secretive British equivalent of the NSA, visited The Guardian's London offices.

In the building's basement, Rusbridger wrote, government officials watched as computers that contained material provided by Snowden were physically pulverized. "We can call off the black helicopters," one of the officials joked, Rusbridger said.

About the broadcaster:

Lance Crayon is a videographer and editor with China Daily. Since living in Beijing he has worked for China Radio International (CRI) and Global Times. Before moving to China he worked in the film industry in Los Angeles as a talent agent and producer. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.