Booz Allen CEO: Snowden ‘did not share our values’

The head of the private contracting firm Booz Allen Hamilton said it will not let former employee Edward Snowden define it, distancing itself from his leak of classified intelligence documents.  

“I told our employees Mr. Snowden was on our payroll for a short period of time, but he was not a Booz Allen person and he did not share our values,” CEO Ralph Shrader said in his first public remarks in an interview with Washington Business Journal. 

{mosads}Snowden, a former government contractor disclosed information detailing the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programs. He had been a Booz Allen employee for about three months in Hawaii before he leaked the information. The company immediately condemned Snowden’s actions after the leak and subsequently fired him. 

Schrader said his clients have been supportive.

“I don’t know if we’ve seen any impact from existing work; I don’t know if we’ve seen any impact on future work, either. We’re working closely with our clients. Our clients have been supportive of us and we’re supportive of them,” he said.

The company reported a quarterly profit increase of 13 percent Wednesday. The company’s revenue comes almost exclusively from the federal government.

Last month, the Navy concluded that the company was not to blame for Snowden’s action and awarded it part of a $900 million cyber operation contract.

“We’ve been successful by focusing on those important things that we really can control,” Shrader said.

Snowden is seeking to avoid extradition to the U.S., where he faces espionage charges. Snowden has requested asylum from Russia.

Reports on Thursday said he had been granted papers to leave Moscow airport, where he has been in the transit area.