Is Snowden ready to come home?
It appears that, for the past two years, Edward Snowden has really just been waiting for the call to come home. Since 2013, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has sought asylum in Russia, but in an broadcast Monday, Mr. Snowden suggested that he鈥檚 ready, and willing, to reach a deal with the US government.
In 2013, Snowden sparked a worldwide debate when he leaked thousands of documents detailing top secret US government mass surveillance programs. Charged with three felony accounts and violation of the US Espionage Act, Snowden would be tried without a jury and could face or perhaps even a life sentence if he were to return to the United States without a deal, reported the Guardian. 聽
"The Espionage Act finds anyone guilty who provides any information to the public, ," Snowden told The BBC in an interview, according to CNN. (The BBC broadcast is not available in the US.)
"You aren't even allowed to explain to a jury what your motivations were for revealing this information. It is simply a question of 'did you reveal information?' If yes, you go to prison for the rest of your life."
This, Snowden feels, is unfair and arguably the reason he hasn鈥檛 been able to reach a deal with the US government for the past two years. 鈥淲hat I won't do is I won't serve as a deterrent to people trying to do the right thing in difficult situations,鈥� he said.
At least 167,000 Americans think Snowden did do the right thing, though, as voiced by the petition they signed in July calling for Snowden to be pardoned, a request that was reinforced in a letter to editors at The New York Times last week.
鈥淚t is time that President Obama pardons Edward Snowden. What Mr. Snowden leaked, he leaked for the ,鈥� Barry Levine wrote. 鈥淭o prosecute that as an act hostile to the American government is more an indictment of that government than the leaker.鈥�
Snowden鈥檚 popularity could fuel the government鈥檚 desire to strike a deal. 鈥淔urther leverage is the from Snowden鈥檚 receipt of prestigious awards and his general popularity, particularly among the young: since starting on Twitter a week ago, he has attracted 1.36 million followers,鈥� wrote the Guardian.
But the government鈥檚 sentiments have been mixed and rather unclear.
The White House denied the July pardon request. Snowden should have 鈥渁ccept[ed] the consequences of his actions鈥� if he 鈥渇elt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience,鈥� said Lisa Monaco, the President鈥檚 advisor on homeland security and counterterrorism in a statement regarding the decision.
But a month prior, Congress passed a law requiring warrants for obtaining phone metadata from telecommunications companies, part of what former Attorney General Eric Holder called a 鈥渘ecessary debate鈥� regarding bulk collection of phone records, which suggests that Snowden鈥檚 actions directly led to change.
While former NSA boss Michael Hayden told the Guardian, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e asking me my opinion, . He鈥檚 not coming home,鈥� Mr. Holder told Yahoo News that 鈥渁 possibility exists鈥� for reaching a deal with Snowden.
鈥淚 certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with,鈥� Holder said, though Melanie Newman, spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said Snowden would if he returned to the US. 聽聽
Ben Wizer, Snowden鈥檚 lawyer, welcomed Holder's recognition, telling 聽Yahoo News, " 鈥� I don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e seen this kind of respect from anybody at a Cabinet level before.鈥�
鈥溾�� claims he is prepared to face a jail sentence and has even 鈥� with the government many times,鈥� but so far, US authorities 鈥渟aid they won't torture me, which is a start, I think, but we haven't gotten much further than that."
鈥淥ne could easily read the last few months as having brought the two sides closer together on a possible arrangement. But ,鈥� wrote the Atlantic.
