The National Security Agency has asked the Justice Department to begin a criminal probe into the leaks. On Sunday, the chairs of both congressional intelligence committees, Congressmember Mike Rogers and Senator Dianne Feinstein, said the whistleblower involved should face prosecution. Speaking to NBC News, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the leak has done “grave damage.”

James Clapper: “For me, it is literally — not figuratively, literally — gut-wrenching to see this happen, because of the huge, grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities.”

The White House is expected to make its first comments today on Edward Snowden’s coming forward as the NSA whistleblower. Snowden had been staying in the same Hong Kong hotel for the past three weeks, but he reportedly checked out earlier today. In its article disclosing his identity, The Guardian of London writes: “[Edward] Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning.”