Q / Revised Information I'm not sure how I/we missed this.  Very, very interesting.  I'll have to ponder more on this as I am out the door for a bit. Excerpt:  "The people who began chasing Snowden work for the Associate Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence, according to former U.S. intelligence officers who spoke on condition of anonymity. The directorate, sometimes known as “the Q Group,” is continuing to track Snowden now that he’s outed himself as The Guardian’s source, according to the intelligence officers." Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-q-group-the-directorate-hunting-down-edward-snowden Additional References: http://www.news.com.au/technology/secret-agency-8216the-q-group8217-was-hunting-edward-snowden-for-weeks-before-nsa-leaks/news-story/4816e7b26c1e4d721724b2e956fa01d1 https://globalintelnews.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/the-top-secret-q-group-hunting-down-edward-snowden/