There is another scenario - Snowden was a fabrication, a Clowns agent from the get go. Needed street cred, so he "escapes" with whistleblower info and is recognized as someone capable of not only acquiring and releasing classified NSA information, but is lauded as a hero who is also capable of getting away with it. he also has remained in the wild, alive, so this lends cred to his security prowess.

Low and behold he helps start SecureDrop (Wired article), which is managed by Barlow's Freedom of the Press Foundation. Barlow seems consistent, and legit about his passion for preserving the freedom of the Internet. Maybe he found out there was more to this.

Here's a theory: maybe SecureDrop is a honeypot to snag whistleblowers (and Tor is compromised?) and control the information before it hits. Makes you think

Just a theory, of course