DEVELOPING: Federal prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint against NSA secrets leaker Edward Snowden charging him with espionage, theft and communicating classified intelligence information to an unauthorized person, a senior U.S. official told Fox News.
The Washington Post reported the U.S. also had asked Hong Kong todetain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.
He fled to Hong Kong last month after leaking highly classified documents about government information gathering that he acquired while working as a contractor for the NSA.
The complaint was filed June 14, Fox reported. The Post said it was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
A Justice Department official told Fox it was a three-count complaint including "theft of government property," "unauthorized communication of national defense information" -- meaning espionage -- and "willful communication of classified communications of intelligence information to an unauthorized person."
Snowden's disclosures, reported over the last few weeks, have ignited a political storm over the balance between privacy rights and national security in the U.S.. The NSA has defended the programs, saying they have disrupted possible terrorist attacks in the country.
