President-elect Donald Trump called for Edward Snowden’s extradition and execution prior to winning the race to the White House, but the NSA leaker says he isn’t particularly fearful of what his future might hold under the nation’s next commander in chief.
Russia’s decision to grant Mr. Snowden asylum in 2013 has allowed the former U.S. intelligence contractor to reside in Moscow in lieu of facing charges related to his unauthorized disclosure that year of classified NSA documents. Discussing the results of the U.S. election at event Thursday, however, the leaker cum fugitive downplayed concerns that Mr. Trump could arrange for his return home after taking the oath of office, especially given the president-elect’s reported fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“While I can’t predict what the future looks like, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, I can be comfortable with the way I’ve lived today,” Mr. Snowden told attendees at an event in Netherlands on Thursday by way of a video link from Russia.
“And no matter what happens, if there’s a drone strike or I slip and fall down the stairs, that’s something that won’t change. As long as we do our best to live in accordance with our values, we don’t have to worry about what happens tomorrow,” Mr. Snowden added.
Mr. Snowden, 33, arrived in Russia in June 2013 when the U.S. State Department revoked his passport on his way from Hong Kong. He was indicted by the Justice Department days earlier on charges of espionage and theft after admitting he supplied members of the media with secret NSA documents, but has managed to avoid standing trial on account of a subsequent asylum bid approved by the Kremlin.
While Mr. Trump hasn’t weighed in on the Snowden situation since winning the presidential race Tuesday, he’s said several times in the past he’d have him extradited and potentially executed for leaking NSA documents.
“All I can say is that if I were President, Snowden would have already been returned to the U.S. (by their fastest jet) and with an apology!” Mr. Trump told his Twitter followers in June 2013 shortly after Mr. Snowden revealed himself as the source of the NSA leaks.
“ObamaCare is a disaster and Snowden is a spy who should be executed-but if it and he could reveal Obama’s records, I might become a major fan,” Mr. Trump tweeted four months later.
Other tweets attributed to the nation’s next president have pegged Mr. Snowden as “a traitor,” “a disgrace,” “a coward,” “a piece of human garbage,” “a liar and a fraud” and “a spy who has caused great damage to the U.S.”
“A spy in the old days, when our country was respected and strong, would be executed,” Mr. Trump tweeted in April 2014.
Mr. Snowden has been charged under the U.S. Espionage Act, which affords prosecutors the option of seeking execution upon conviction. Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney general at the time, said the government wouldn’t seek the death penalty for Mr. Snowden as of 2013.
Of course, even if federal prosecutors were to seek the death penalty, it would ultimately be up to the jury which convicted Mr. Snowden whether or not they would approve the death penalty as punishment.
Speaking Thursday, Mr. Snowden reiterated his willingness to return home under the condition he’s given a fair trial — something he doesn’t suspect receiving anytime soon — but admitted it wouldn’t be impossible for the future Trump administration to secure his return.
“I don’t worry about it,” he said of his possible extradition. “It’s possible, right? It would be crazy to dismiss the idea of this guy who sort of presents himself as a big dealmaker of trying to make a deal.”
“The president of Russia has previously said on camera that the people of Russia consider me a human rights defender. And regardless of the position that we have on Russian politics – which obviously have a lot of problems – they said Russia is not a country that extradites human rights defenders,” Mr. Snowden said.
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