You make a couple of fair points, but I just don’t see his response as a brush off. The best way for governments not to be held accountable for violating the rights of their citizens and breaking the law is not to do it. There is nothing so innocent as innocence. But attacking (or mildly but clearly smearing/implying negative capacity and intention) the messenger is not a new trick when governments are faced with accountability.
And ‘polite request’ is not exactly what happened when the Guardian destroyed those computers.
