Snowden Posts Document Alleging US Policy to Hack Foreign Political Parties

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The document, originating from the Director of National Intelligence and dated July 16, 2010, purported to identify "foreign-based political organizations" allegedly targeted by US intelligence.

"Our government specifically authorized the hacking of political parties. Mistakes were made," Snowden said in a Twitter message.

​Among them were Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and National Salvation Front, the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Lebanese Amal group and the Indian Bharatiya Janata Party.

The document was released in the midst of a significant hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in which dozens of emails were publicly released showing DNC efforts to obstruct candidate Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign to increase rival Hillary Clinton’s chances to become the Democratic party’s presidential candidate.

DNC and other US sources have claimed Russian responsibility for the hack.

In 2013, Snowden leaked a cache of intelligence documents revealing widespread US surveillance practices at home and abroad. Snowden is currently living in exile in Russia, and faces charges of espionage and theft of government property in the United States.