The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Edward Snowden and his book publishers to prevent them from profiting from leaked classified information in Snowden's memoir "Permanent Record," released Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege Snowden violated nondisclosure agreements by refusing to share his manuscript, and giving speeches without oversight from the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency, as former employees are required to do.

The former NSA and CIA contractor fled to Russia in 2013 after becoming a household name for sharing secret files with journalists from the Guardian and the Washington Post, detailing U.S. government global surveillance operations.

But the new complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, appears to anticipate constitutional challenges. It claims the government isn't trying to restrain publication or distribution of the book, but is instead aiming to recover the proceeds from the sale.

"Snowden's earnings have resulted, and will continue to result, from Snowden's unlawful breaches of his contractual obligations and fiduciary duties to the United States, CIA, and NSA," the complaint said.

The lawsuit also references speeches and appearances Snowden has made since 2014, some of which it says resulted in more than $10,000 paydays.

"Intelligence information should protect our nation, not provide personal profit," U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release. "This lawsuit will ensure that Edward Snowden receives no monetary benefits from breaching the trust placed in him."

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Trent McCotter is prosecuting the case.

It's not yet clear whether New York relief-defendants Macmillan Publishers Inc., Macmillan Publishing Group LLC and Holtzbrinck Publishers have retained counsel. Macmillan's general counsel, Paul Sleven, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The memoir is the most detailed and personal account of Snowden's life story to date, chronicling what led him to turn against the mass surveillance system he once helped facilitate.

Snowden's attorney, Ben Wizner with the American Civil Liberties Union, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Snowden recently petitioned French President Emmanuel Macron for asylum, but said in an interview Monday that he hopes to return to the U.S. for a fair jury trial.

"That is the ultimate goal," he said. "But if I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison, the one bottom-line demand that we all have to agree to is that, at least, I get a fair trial. And that is the one thing the government has refused to guarantee, because they won't provide access to what's called a public-interest defense."

The DOJ also pursued an ex-U.S. Navy SEAL who, in 2012, wrote a firsthand account of the  raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, allegedly without proper clearance. Matthew Bissonette agreed to forfeit more than $6 million in book sales and $180,000 from consulting work as part of a settlement that ended a federal investigation.

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