Due to technical problems, Ledgett's initial appearance was cut short, but he is expected to return to the stage within the hour. We'll continue to update this story.
VANCOUVER, Canada — NSA Deputy Director Rich Ledgett on Thursday talked about Edward Snowden in a video conference at TED. His last-minute appearance comes just two days after Snowden told the same TED crowd that the biggest revelations are yet to come out of the estimated 1.7 million NSA documents he leaked to journalists because he said it was duty as an American citizen.
However, Ledgett disagrees, saying there were other actions Snowden could have taken.
"He had alternatives," Ledgett said. "Characterizing him as a whistleblower actually hurts legitimate whistleblowing activities."
Snowden exposed controversial NSA programs like PRISM, but he said that's just the beginning. When Snowden spoke on Tuesday, he said there is still a lot of reporting to be done, including diving deeper into the accusation that the NSA tricks companies into building backdoors into their systems that make data vulnerable to hackers across the world.
Regarding the information that Snowden has already leaked, Ledgett said, "There were some kernels of truth in there, but a lot of extrapolations and half-truths."
Ledgett added that he thinks the conversation about these programs is important, but it needs to be "fact-based."

Snowden, who is still in hiding somewhere in Russia, maintained that his act wasn't reckless and that he did it all for the American people. He also said he would love to return to the United States if granted the amnesty that many are calling for, including the New York Times. In December, Ledgett said he was considering amnesty for Snowden in exchange for the documents in his possession.
TED Curator Chris Anderson on Tuesday joked that the NSA was watching Snowden's appearance, which everyone thought was a surprise at the time.
"We didn't realize he was going to show up there, so kudos to you guys," Ledgett said.
And that's what it seemed when Ledgett beamed into the conference on Thursday morning. The interview, which was left off the official TED schedule until Wednesday evening, seemed reactionary. Maybe it was something Snowden had said on Tuesday that finally compelled the agency’s highest civilian authority to respond?
It turns out that the whole thing has been in the works for awhile, according to a source who works for the TED conferences. Anderson knew the NSA was indeed watching because that was the plan all along.
Ledgett wasn’t exactly facing a welcoming crowd. At a conference like TED, where the echelons of the tech industry pal around with each other in lunch lines, most attendees support Snowden — at least that's what the majority said by a show of hands when Anderson asked the crowd earlier this week if they considered Snowden to be "fundamentally heroic."
Snowden claims he's trying to protect a free Internet, a cause that hits home for many long-time TED-goers. Tim Berners-Lee, who jumped on stage with robot Snowden and shook his virtual hand, has called the whistleblower a "hero" on several occasions.
The former NSA contractor has been on a public relations tour over the past few weeks, embracing the public debate that has erupted over his actions. He recently made an appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas via satellite, in which he touched on similar talking points that he did on Tuesday.