Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has told MPs it is "impossible to assess" whether publishing top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden damaged UK national security.
The 59-year-old told the Home Affairs Select Committee his paper had only published 1% of the information contained in the documents obtained from the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, but did not reveal where the files are.
And he denied control of the data had been "lost" after it was shared through Fed Ex with The New York Times newspaper.
Mr Rusbridger and The Guardian newspaper have faced criticism over the publication, with the heads of GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 claiming the information has aided terrorists.
Others have claimed the move may have been illegal.
Mr Rusbridger said Mr Snowden handed 58,000 files to four places - The Guardian, Washington Post, a location in Rio de Janeiro and Germany's Der Spiegel.
In a heated evidence session, Mr Rusbridger was criticised for publishing details of the activities of the UK's listening post GCHQ and its US counterpart the NSA.
He said he and his colleagues at The Guardian were "patriots" after he was asked by Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP if he "loved this country".
Asked by Mr Vaz if 1% of the files had been published, the editor replied: "That's approximately correct. We continue to publish stuff, it's about 1% of what we were given."
Asked where the remaining files were, he said: "This is an ongoing story we are writing. If you think it's sensible I talk about where the exact files are I can write to you.
"But I'm not sure that's really sensible to talk about the existence of other files in other bits of the world."
Mr Rusbridger said there is one file The Guardian jointly holds with the New York Times, which is in New York.
Mr Vaz asked if the remaining 99% of files not published were in a secure place. The editor replied: "I believe that to be true."
Earlier this year, MI5 director general Andrew Parker warned in a speech that revealing details about the work of GCHQ was a "gift to terrorists".
And Sir John Sawers, head of MI6, said terrorists were "rubbing their hands with glee" at the Snowden disclosures.
Asked to respond to the criticism, Mr Rusbridger said The Guardian was not a "rogue newspaper" and other editors of "leading" newspapers decided to publish details in the NSA files.
The editor quoted back officials who believed no damage had been done by the publication - including a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a senior administration official within the Obama administration, and a Whitehall official.
:: As It Happened: Alan Rusbridger Quizzed Over Spy Stories
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