New Snowden leak reveals details of $52-billion US spy budget

The latest intelligence leak on the U.S. government's spy operations was leaked by fugitive NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on Thursday, revealing details of the ballooning spy budget which amounts to more than $52 billion this year.

Snowden, who currently lives in Russia under a temporary grant of asylum, passed a 178-page U.S. intelligence budget document to The Washington Post newspaper, which in turn published a schematic summary of the budget.

The budget shows that the CIA has grown into the largest US spy agency with a $15 billion budget for 2013 as it increases its cyber sabotage, intelligence gathering and overseas covert operations. Over the past decade, the CIA has expanded its workforce by more than 25% to 21,575 staff this year.

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