REPORT: Snowden Was 'Brilliant' And Digitally Impersonated NSA Officials

Edward Snowden successfully assumed the electronic identities of top NSA officials to access some of the secret National Security Agency documents he leaked, Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole and Robert Windrem of NBC News report.

“Every day, they are learning how brilliant [Snowden] was,” a former U.S. official with knowledge of the case told NBC. “This is why you don’t hire brilliant people for jobs like this. You hire smart people. Brilliant people get you in trouble.”

Last week Michael Isikoff, Cole, and Esposito reported that the NSA is "overwhelmed" does not know the full extent of the tens of thousands of documents the former NSA contractor took from its system.

NBC writes that the NSA's forensic investigation "included trying to figure out which higher level officials Snowden impersonated online to access the most sensitive documents."

On Monday Esposito and Cole reported that Snowden functioned as a "ghost user," meaning that he was able "look at any file he wanted, and his actions were largely unaudited."

Snowden's role as a "system administrator" meant that he was able to access NSAnet, the agency’s intranet, without leaving any signature.