Edward Snowden has been named recipient of this year’s award for truth telling given by Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, the group announced today.Most of the Sam Adams Associates are former senior national security officials who, with the other members, understand fully the need to keep legitimate secrets. Each of the U.S. members took a solemn oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
The Sam Adams Award is given annually by the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence. It is given to an intelligence professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. SAA is a group of retired CIA officers, and the the award is named after Samuel A. Adams, a CIA whistleblower during the Vietnam War. The award is , in the form of a "corner-brightener candlestick". Many recipients have been whistleblowers.