Imagine my surprise to learn that Edward Snowden was played like a violin by Vladimir Putin.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden instantly regretted asking Russian President Vladimir Putin a softball question on live television about the Kremlin’s mass surveillance effort, two sources close to the leaker tell The Daily Beast.

“It certainly didn’t go as he would’ve hoped,” one of these sources said. “I don’t think there’s any shame in saying that he made an error in judgment.”

“He basically viewed the question as his first foray into criticizing Russia. He was genuinely surprised that in reasonable corridors it was seen as the opposite,” added Ben Wizner, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who serves as one of Snowden’s closest advisers.

According to Wizner and others, Snowden hadn’t realized how much last week’s Q&A—with Putin blithely assuring Snowden that Moscow had no such eavesdropping programs—would appear to be a Kremlin propaganda victory to Western eyes. And so the leaker quickly decided to write an op-ed for the Guardian to explain his actions and to all but label Putin a liar for his televised response.

As I wrote two days ago: Snowden’s Op-Ed: Desperately Spinning to Repair the Damage.

Remember the days when Edward Snowden praised Russia for their courageous stance against human rights violations?

To wit. http://t.co/iU4jlqEHOb @BradMossEsq pic.twitter.com/mJAeRvQq0w

— Gus (@Gus_802) April 21, 2014