A US Internet activist and one of the people with access to Edward Snowden's documents, has told a Berlin paper that his apartment was broken into, saying he suspected US involvement.
GMAFB. The Snowden documents would be hugely valuable to _any_ government or large criminal organization (think drug cartels) that could get their hands on them. If you admit you have access to them you are painting a target on your back for groups beyond just the US government.
I'm not sure of that. One big theme in intelligence / counterintelligence is that it isn't necessarily what you know. It's how you know what you know. Secretly having a copy of the Snowden documents is much more valuable than having a copy of the Snowden documents and everyone knowing that you have them.
E.g. If I am the U.S. and I want to manage some agents in Iran, I might have to alter my strategy if I know Iran has the Snowden docs. I think you can s/Iran/Sinaloa Cartel/ and it still makes sense.
The leadership of the Los Zetas Cartel, the largest and most powerful cartel in Mexico, comes almost exclusively from special forces and intelligence backgrounds.
According to a number of leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel that have been charged in US courts, the CIA has been providing material support and training to The Sinaloas since 2008 in an attempt to offset explosive growth of the Zetas.
But anyone seeking valuable info might want to stay unnoticed: no need to alarm/alert others — Applebaum, his allies, or other security services — prematurely. Peek first, then decide whether what's discovered is best known secretly, or not.
It doesn't say he said he thinks they were looking for the Snowden documents, does it. Why wouldn't the USG be interested in what he might have on his computer? You think it's more likely that Iran or some drug cartel is behind stuff like, uhh, hiring 2 German speaking women to pretend they received keys to his apartment, etc.? GMAFB indeed.
GMAFB. The Snowden documents would be hugely valuable to _any_ government or large criminal organization (think drug cartels) that could get their hands on them. If you admit you have access to them you are painting a target on your back for groups beyond just the US government.