Snowden archive falls silent as publication trail ends in 2019
A Libroot.org investigation finds no Snowden archive documents have been publicly released since The Intercept’s final batch in May 2019, while the archive’s ownership and future remain unclear.
No documents from Edward Snowden’s surveillance archive have been publicly published since The Intercept released its final known batch on 29 May 2019, according to an investigation by Libroot.org.
The archive originated with material Snowden provided to journalists in 2013. The Guardian, Der Spiegel, The New York Times and ProPublica stopped publishing documents between February 2014 and August 2015. The Intercept continued releasing selected material until May 2019.
Copies are reportedly still held by journalists. Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald have said they retain complete copies, while Barton Gellman has described his substantial copy as being in secure cold storage. The archive’s reported size, distribution and accessibility have not been independently verified.
Libroot.org reports conflicting explanations for The Intercept’s closure of its archive, including budget reductions, editorial priorities, security concerns and plans to find new publishing partners. No publicly identified replacement institution has taken over publication.
The investigation contacted more than 20 people and organisations in August and September 2026. Only the Guardian’s press office and retired lawyer Gill Phillips replied. The Guardian said it had nothing new to share and did not routinely comment on editorial decision-making.
The current status of copies held by other organisations, any publication restrictions and an anonymous-source claim that The Intercept destroyed its copy remain unresolved. The absence of public releases since 2019 does not establish that no private access, research or related reporting has occurred.
