THE BIGGEST SCANDAL of Snowden's Run is that, even at this late date, NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW exactly what it is that Edward Snowden has taken, what he has done with it -- or almost as bad -- what he can, might, or intends to do with it

So far the Obama Administration has shown no ability whatsoever to manage the crisis or reassure anybody that it knows what needs to be done

Although some observers like the Wall Street Journal's  Brett Stephen's have observed that "... [H]owever the Snowden episode turns out ...what it mainly illustrates is that we are living in an age of American impotence (See "Stephens: The Age of American Impotence -- As the Edward Snowden saga illustrates, the Obama administration is running out of foreign influence" by Brett Stephens, 6/24/13, Wall Streeet Journal/Online [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324637504578565530512048940.html]); the most profound real threat to American interests is that the Snowden Affair is a direct breach of  our modern cyber-Maginot  line in the technologically reinforced defensive perimeter of  the homeland. Exacerbating  that breach is the fact that even weeks into the crisis we don't know how wide or deep that gash into our vitals actually is.

Several U.S. officials have said  that U.S. intelligence agencies are worried because they do not yet know how much highly sensitive material is in the possession of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, and that his whereabouts, ultimate destination  and current intentions are unclear (See "U.S. Officials Don't Know How Much Secret Material Snowden Took", 6/24/13, Newsmax/Reuters  [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/snowden-took-secret-material/2013/06/24/id/511649#ixzz2XFVSJizO]).  Investigators believe Snowden, who had been working in Hawaii for an NSA contractor, was partly successful at covering his tracks as he burrowed into a broad array of information about operations conducted by NSA, as well as  its British equivalent, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

During a weekend television appearance, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that Snowden possessed around 200 secret documents, but a non-government source familiar with Snowden's materials reports that Senator Feinstein had grossly understated the size of Snowden's document haul. That source indicated Snowden left for Hong Kong with thousands of documents copied from the NSA files. Two U.S. national security sources that were among the people Reuters spoke to confirmed that investigators believe Snowden possesses a substantial amount of secret material, though they declined to discuss numbers.

According to a report that appeared in the Washington Post, "The ability of contractor-turned-fugitive Edward Snowden to evade arrest is raising new concerns among U.S. officials about the security of top-secret documents he is believed to have in his possession — and about the possibility that he could willingly share them with those who assist his escape..."   (See "U.S. worried about security of files Snowden is thought to have" by Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller,  6/24/13, Washington Post  [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-officials-worried-about-security-of-files-snowden-is-thought-to-have/2013/06/24/1e036964-dd09-11e2-85de-c03ca84cb4ef_story.html]). "A former senior U.S. official said that the material that has leaked publicly would be of limited use to China or Russia but that if Snowden also stole files that outline U.S. cyber-penetration efforts, the damage of any disclosure would be multiplied. The official, like others in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matters on the record..."

According to the Washington Post report, the NSA has teams of analysts scouring systems that they think Snowden may have accessed, and these analysts are seeking to retrace Snowden's steps online, so as to assemble a catalogue of the material he may have taken. “They think he copied so much stuff — that almost everything that place does, he has,” said one former government official, referring to the NSA, where Snowden worked as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton while in the NSA’s Hawaii facility. “Everyone’s nervous about what the next thing will be, what will be exposed.”

The damage assessment being conducted by U.S. officials is expected to take “a few months, at best,” said a senior intelligence official. “We’re looking for all of the information that was disclosed, and assessing the damage it may have caused in terms of national security sources....”

Many key government spokespersons have openly said all of  this is very bad --- only a few have  suggested (off the record) how bad it actually might be or become.  Or, that it really might extend to what some have described as "everything" !