Edward Snowden, a former U.S. government worker who leaked classified files, could be turned over to the US as a gift from Russia, reports say.
A senior U.S. official told NBC anonymously that they’ve analyzed intelligence reports which say Snowden’s handover to the US could be used to “curry favor” with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Snowden left the U.S. after leaking classified information documenting global internet surveillance programs run by the U.S. government such as PRISM .
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The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has been living in exile in Moscow since 2013 to avoid charges in the U.S. that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
Snowden’s lawyer Ben Wizner, said he hadn’t heard of any such plans and “Team Snowden has … no new reason for concern.”
Snowden himself responded to the NBC report saying there was finally proof he was not a spy.
“No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they’re next,” he wrote.
“I’m actually kind of encouraged,” Snowden told Katie Couric of Yahoo News in an interview.
“It wasn’t that many years ago that people were saying ‘this guy is a Russian spy,’” he explained. “But people don’t give up their spies.
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“And if my recent criticism of the Russian government’s internet policies, criticism of their human rights, have been so severe that even my greatest critics in the intelligence community are now saying, ‘he’s a liability, we have to get him out of there, that’s a vindication.”
The White House hasn’t yet commented on the report. A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC that the report was “nonsense.”
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*with files from Nicole Bogart
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