Other than being trapped in Russia, unable to return to the United States for fear of being prosecuted for treason, Edward Snowden is having a pretty good 2016.
Joseph Gordon Levitt will play in him in a biopic, directed by Oliver Stone. All those rumors about his untimely death turned out to be wrong. Twitter makes is so that he can taunt Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from halfway across the globe (and rake in tons of nude photos). And so far this year, he’s amassed more than $200,000 in speaking fees.
Snowden, who fled to Russia after being charged for leaking classified NSA documents that detailed a massive domestic data collection program, has used video chat to connect with a number of events inside the US: speaking engagements at colleges and universities, and at high-profile gatherings like South By Southwest Interactive, San Diego Comic Con and the TriBeCa Film Festival. He even made a brief cameo in the off-Broadway play Privacy.
But Snowden’s appearances don’t come cheap. He charges a minimum of $25,000 per video chat, and his speeches can run upwards of $50,000 after technology, moderators and speakers bureau fees are all paid.
According to official documents from Colorado University, Boulder, school officials there used $56,000 from a student services account to pay for Snowden’s talk. But more interesting than CU Boulder using cash to bring in a controversial figure (something colleges and universities regularly do), is whom they paid the speaking fee to.
Technically, CU Boulder and others paid Snowden through a prestigious speakers bureau, the American Program Bureau (APB), but because Snowden is in exile (and may not be able to pay his taxes, or interact with entities inside the U.S.), the speakers bureau had to set up a special LLC to pay Snowden.
According to Yahoo News, this is so that APB doesn’t co-mingle the funds it owes Snowden with funds it owes other clients, just in case the government comes calling.
Contracts: 3 public US inversities paid speakers bureau total of $79,000 to host Snowden. https://t.co/4NZe3Qf97i pic.twitter.com/OXgKCWvZE2
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) August 11, 2016
Speakers bureau set up unidentified LLC to pay Sno. Sno (via Wizner) said he "doesn’t have a clue what the LLC is." pic.twitter.com/Ki6RRn7g9d
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) August 11, 2016
Before the speakers bureau and the LLC (9/15), Wizner was wiring Snowden's speaking fees to bank account in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/UspBRuzVPB
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) August 11, 2016
There’s no indication Snowden has paid taxes on what he’s received, but his lawyer says that he will pay what he owes as part of whatever settlement agreement the United States offers him to return and face criminal charges.
School officials were understandably concerned about the weird, double-blind agreement, because under federal law, anyone who pays Snowden (or any other fugitive from the law) directly may be criminally liable. The University of Iowa asked officials, directly, if there was some other way they could pay the fee.
Officials discussed concerns. Then-interim president of Iowa: “Tom do we have other options or is it the last one”? pic.twitter.com/xJxw1YRl69
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) August 11, 2016
And while the schools supported Snowden’s freedom to speak, even while he is banned from returning to U.S. soil, some of them were definitely concerned that they would be financing his ability to remain in Russia. They were assured that Snowden would pay a portion of the fee to non-profits working to protect freedom of the press in the U.S.
Those non-profits, though, say they never got the money.
Sno camp to U of Colorado: He'll donate a “significant portion” to Freedom of Press Foundation. FPF: We never got. pic.twitter.com/WxiOUPhxvN
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) August 11, 2016
On occasion, though, FPF says, Snowden has offered to speak at events with an agreement that the speakers fee would go entirely to FPF in lieu of being paid for his appearance. But FPF hasn’t received any donations from Snowden directly, or the LLC, according to Yahoo News, and there’s no indication the money is being held somewhere in escrow.
Snowden, meanwhile, is still living in what he calls a “modest apartment” in Russia, an arrangement he’s told a few audiences he really doesn’t mind (except, probably, for that whole “fugitive from American justice” thing).
