There are reports that Russia is considering turning Edward Snowden over to President Trump to “curry favor” with the Trump administration.
I think it would be a yuge mistake for Trump to accept Snowden. He should politely keep his distance from this issue, as many people, including yours truly, consider Snowden a hero, and Trump could alienate a significant segment of his base by accepting Snowden and prosecuting him, as he has claimed he would do.
If President Trump were to pardon Snowden of any wrongdoing I would be all for it. However, he will get skewered by the left for doing it. This a no-win situation for the new President. He should simply do nothing and ask Putin to continue to grant asylum to Snowden. My opinion.
NBC is reporting that U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a “gift” to President Donald Trump — who has called the NSA leaker a “spy” and a “traitor” who deserves to be executed.
That’s according to a senior U.S. official who has analyzed a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports detailing Russian deliberations and who says a Snowden handover is one of various ploys to “curry favor” with Trump. A second source in the intelligence community confirms the intelligence about the Russian conversations and notes it has been gathered since the inauguration.
Snowden’s ACLU lawyer, Ben Wizner, told NBC News they are unaware of any plans that would send him back to the United States.
“Team Snowden has received no such signals and has no new reason for concern,” Wizner said.
Snowden responded to NBC’s report on Twitter and said it shows that he did not work with the Russian government.
“Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel,” Snowden said. “No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they’re next.”
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/830200565720346624
