Mr Snowden has been living in Russia to escape US prosecution after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programmes.

Asking France again for asylum this week, he argued that "protecting whistleblowers is not a hostile act".

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told CNews television that when Mr Snowden first asked for French asylum in 2013, the government "considered it was not the time. I don’t see what has changed".

Mr Snowden has also sought asylum in several other countries. His memoir was released in about 20 countries this week, including France.

Lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against, at 16/09, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for failing to submit his book to the government for clearance.

"Edward Snowden has violated an obligation he undertook to the United States when he signed agreements as part of his employment by the CIA and as an NSA contractor," Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said in a statement.

Snowden’s book "Permanent Record" was published by Macmillan. The publisher, which was also named as a defendant in the suit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a release, the Justice Department said it was seeking to recover "all proceeds earned by Snowden because of his failure to submit his publication for pre-publication review in violation of his alleged contractual and fiduciary obligations."

"The United States is suing the publisher solely to ensure that no funds are transferred to Snowden, or at his direction, while the court resolves the United States’ claims," the release said.

The civil lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. It is separate from the criminal case the Justice Department is pursuing related to Snowden’s alleged disclosures of confidential information.

Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since releasing a vast trove of classified documents to journalists in 2013. Reporting by The Guardian and The Washington Post based on Snowden’s leaks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize the following year.

The financial arrangement between Snowden and his publisher is not clear. In its complaint, the Justice Department states there is "no publicly available information" about the matter.

Snowden’s book "reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down," according to the publisher’s website.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Brian Williams on Monday, Snowden said that his goal was not to end the NSA, but to "reform" it.

Attorney General William Barr approved Tuesday’s lawsuit, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News.

(Published by CNBC and Press Association, September 19 2019)
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