Edward Snowden’s exile in Russia looks set to continue after authorities in the country reportedly signed off on a new three-year visa for the former National Security Agency contractor.
Snowden, who leaked a trove of documents about NSA mass surveillance programs in 2013, was granted asylum in Russia in August that year. His residency permit was due to expire this year, but on Wednesday, Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, said in a statement that the permit has now been extended to 2020. Kucherena added that in 2018 Snowden will qualify to apply for Russian citizenship.
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of another high-profile leaker, Chelsea Manning, who passed hundreds of thousands of U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and other documents to WikiLeaks. But Snowden does not appear to be next on Obama’s clemency list.
A petition with more than a million signatures has urged Obama to pardon the NSA whistleblower. But White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday that “Mr. Snowden has not filed paperwork to seek clemency from this administration.” And Obama himself stated last year regarding Snowden that he “can’t pardon somebody who hasn’t gone before a court and presented themselves.”
With Donald Trump soon to be in the White House, a degree of uncertainty has surrounded Snowden’s future in Russia. Trump is intent on resetting relations with the country, and in 2013 he tweeted that “if I were President, Snowden would already have been returned to the U.S.” Earlier this month, the CIA’s former acting director Michael Morell wrote a piece encouraging Russian president Vladimir Putin to return Snowden to the U.S. as a “perfect inauguration gift” to Trump.
Having just renewed Snowden’s residency permit, Russia looks unlikely to oblige.
Moreover, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zkharova has outright dismissed Morell’s idea, which she said represented “an ideology of betrayal” in a post on Facebook. “You spoke, Mr. Morell, and now it’s clear to everybody that in your office, it’s normal to bring gifts in the form of people, and to hand over those who seek defense,” Zkharova wrote.
33-year-old Snowden – whose trove of documents The Intercept has extensively reported on – appears to have a relatively settled life in Russia, where he shares a home with his American partner Linday Mills. However, he did not originally intend to wind up in the country. Before his leaks were first published by The Guardian and the Washington Post in 2013, Snowden had fled the U.S. for Hong Kong. Following the initial disclosures – and amid a frenzied manhunt for him in Hong Kong – Snowden boarded a flight to Moscow en route to Cuba. But the State Department revoked his passport before he could reach Latin America, stranding him at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, where he lived for about 40 days before Russia granted him asylum.
Snowden has said that he would be willing to return to the U.S. to face a fair trial, but does not believe that he would receive one because he is charged under the Espionage Act and he would therefore not be allowed to make a public interest defense for his actions. “I’d volunteer for prison, as long as it served the right purpose,” Snowden told Wired magazine in 2014. “But we can’t allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I’m not going to be part of that.”
When I was growing up in a third world dictatorship, America was always the “refuge,” the world’s “asylum,” and Russia was sending it’s hounds throughout the world after it’s dissidents. At least that was the overwhelming narrative around me.
Today, Russia is lecturing America on betrayal, and the defense of citizens, and America incarcerates more people per capita than any other country, and Donald Trump is president.
And everybody’s just fine with it.
re: “an ideology of betrayal”
Obama’s everlasting gift to freedom was turning the NSA’s data trove over to 16 intel agencies, who in turn will use it to continue to blackmail, extort, or jail American’s
Mebbe it’s time to revisit the word “traitor.” And I for one am staring to like the Russian more and more. If bolshevism aka neo-zionism and ethnicist race baiting is the best answer we get around here we’ll need some help next time around, and Donald might just know where to get it….
Gulags? Checka. Surveillance infrastructure? Cheka. Racial/religious division? Cheka. DHS? No- Stasi.
A sub chapter in the ongoing Russia Hysteria is the “kill Snowden” crowd. Obama had his chance, but chose not to pardon Snowden. Tomorrow, Trump takes over. He wants Snowden killed. He could under current US law say that Snowden is a “terrorist”. This means that he could be killed in Russia at any time.
How would the govt. do this?:
A secret hit team. CIA, JSOP, Seal Team, etc. The point is the same. Get in. Kill him. Get out. Then deny deny deny. We never as a matter of policy comment on national security matters.
Impose more sanctions? The current ones aren’t doing any good.
Trump negotiates a trade with Putin. What would the Russians get in exchange for Snowden? To Putin’s credit, he’s one of the few world leaders who actually pays attention to intl. law. Yes, he hates gays. But he did say that Snowden has political asylum.
As long as Trump’s in charge, Snowden will never come back.
brilliant analysis. those who hate gays would give snowden asylum. wait, there’s a “but” in there. sorry, those who love gays would give snowden asylum. that means obama hates gays. and we already know trump does. that means snowden is turning russian. wait, but putin hates gays. now i’m all confused…
No, Putin does not hate gays.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/09/28/putin-condemns-homophobia-supports-lgbt-rights/
In fact, discrimination on basis of sexuality or gender identity is illegal throughout Russia, and has been since the days of the USSR. (Discrimination on these bases is legal in most of the US.)
Moscow and St Petersburg both have thriving gay communities, openly. They are the only large cities in Russia. Admittedly, much of Russia is very socially conservative, but again, this is true in the US.
The “gay propaganda” law is much overhyped, when, in reality, to fall afoul of the law, one must give factually incorrect information to a minor who has not asked for it. The penalties for Russian citizens is a small fine. The penalties for foreign corporations, however is severe, so, for instance, if Lady Gaga played in Russia, and said on stage (with minors in the audience) that having unprotected gay sex with countless partners was perfectly safe, then Viacom (ir any of its subsidiaries) would not be able to fo business in Russia (a major market for Hollywood) for 90 days.
Yes, there is a problem with gay bashing in Russia, however, that problem is no where near as big as it is in the US – such hate crimes happen in the US at almost 100x the rate, on a per capita basis.
There are places in the US where police still hold regular sting operations where they have undercover police approach guys in parks, and the police initiate conversation, steer the conversation towards sex, aggressively try to “seduce” men, and then arrest the men for “public indecency” if the man they approach does anything that the police percieve to indicate willingness. This even happens in solidly Democratic states with Democratic prosecutors pressing charges, even when the police admit to being the instigator, admit that there was no exposure, and admit that literally noone else was even in the (heavily wooded) park that the police followed a person into, and the police admitted that the person they followed had not even made eye contact with them before they decided to follow them. (Winnebago County Illinois is where this happened to me last Spring. I intend on appealing and filing a civil suit, but have yet to get a lawyer for it, as the trial ended only two days ago.)
I have not even heard of such a hate crime being performed under color of law in Russia.
So, before you further this pathological sabre rattling against Russia using the LBGTQ community as a pink wedge, you might want to look at both the reality of the situation, and get your own house in order.
Edward Snowden’s portrait is on my office wall beside those of Edward Said and Noam Chomsky. He deserves a sculpture on the Rocky Mountains!!!!!!
Espionage
is inherently the action of outsiders.
The Obama administration, as is typical of the faking U$A,
has ardently argued that Edward Snowden and others who have
leaked the truth
are outsiders who must be seen as enemies of what is sacred.
So, this means that what is sacred to the faking U$A
is anything – except the truth.
Pompous posturing and deception are vital to the democrats and
republicans alike. That is why Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton
are celebrated while Edward Snowden and other leakers
and their sense of duty
to the TRUTH
are portrayed as threats from outside.
This also means that the focus on “security” is inherently
a lie which is used to cover up devious designs for instability.
If Russians really wanted to cash in, they would make Moscow the Amsterdam of hacking. Legalize it and tax it. This should more than make up for the reduced oil revenue.
Russia is right to criticize this example of the creeping socialism which is undermining the US. In a proper capitalist system you don’t give away people for nothing; you sell them out for the right price.
So what Russia is saying is ‘make us an offer’. My advice would be that the US offer them something the Russians already have, like Crimea. The State Department could agree to recognize the annexation of Crimea, in exchange for returning Mr. Snowden for a show trial in the US. Once Mr. Snowden was safely back home, the US could renege on the deal. This would be the principled thing to do. Instead, the US government is revealing themselves as socialists, begging for a handout in the form of ‘gifts’.
Hopefully, Mr. Trump will change things, as his book, The Art of Reneging on the Deal, demonstrates he understands how capitalism should work.
Obama should sue for copyright infringement.
*at his final Presser, even as Clinton once remarked she was the only thing standing between America and the “apocalypse”, tick tock, Obama was still helplessly hoping …
I think it was a mistake for Mr. Obama to leave the press corps in charge.
Il Duce, if the Russian government really wanted to cash in at the expense of US totalitarianism, they could make Moscow the Amsterdam of hacking. Legalize it and tax it. After all, they need something to replace diminishing oil revenue.
This is an excellent idea, although sometimes it is hard to assign a monetary value to hacking. For example, for tax purposes, they would need to assess the value of a US election.
Even in this comments section there is not total agreement on this subject. Some are of the opinion there is no discernible difference between the two parties. Others are convinced the US will be ruined if the wrong party gains power. If you judge the value of the election by the amount of money spent on it, it is quite high. But if you judge it by the money spent on security measures by the DNC, it is quite small.
So perhaps it is better for Russia to declare a tax holiday on hacking, at least until the industry is out of its infancy and able to stand on its own two feet.
Missed on this one. Russia has extended its hand to Snowden for another 3 years and in one year he can elect to become a Russian citizen.
So President Obama cannot pardon Snowden because “he hasn’t presented himself to a court of law”? As I recall it, President Nixon received a full pardon from President Ford for all crimes that Nixon may have committed, without ever presenting himself to a court of law or even being charged with any of the numerous felonies he unquestionably committed. No, President Obama, the real reason you aren’t pardoning Snowden is because you do not wish to do so. A little honesty would go a long way, especially in view of the fact that your successor offers us the dismal prospect of being the greatest liar that has ever soiled the White House. And so it goes.
DT is going to need to lie 24/7 to beat BO’s record.
The only difference between the lying is that Trump lacks the artistry of the current office holder. Nothing more.
American Politics or in the **American Way of Life** No More Secrets.
The President “can’t pardon somebody who hasn’t gone before a court and presented themselves.”? Since when? I guess I missed the part where Nixon went before a court and presented himself.
trump must hurry folks to get snowden out of that cold weather pit of a country. once he’s citizen he’ll wield that red passport of theirs humiliating trump. but trump faces a major hurdle – putin was the one who made him president. that’s right, folks, he giveth and he taketh. so trump must play his cards right. if i were snowden though i wouldn’t waste time and marry a russian woman (sorry linday). 2018 may be too late.
or become steven seagal. gerard depardieu is too fat.
Putin helped brilliantly with Syria and their chemical weapons.
Putin helped brilliantly with Edward Snowden.
FM Spokeswoman Zakharova nailed it.
People are capable of doing good things, irrespective of political considerations.
Even if he put a finger in the eye of the US – or its President, he helped someone most of us sees as a hero.
It makes me sad that he cannot come home.
Syria and their chemical weapons? You are well brainwashed, aren’t you?
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line
Noone disputes that Syria had chemical weapons. Hersch’s investigation is about whether the chemical weapons attack was done by Assad or the US backed terrorists (not about the undisputed fact that Assad possessed chemical weapons). Russia got Syria to turn over its chemical weapons to be destroyed, which is what the original comment referred to.
???????!
No, he doesn’t for more than one good reason.
I had never noticed Obama trying his sense of humor. Evo Morales didn’t seem to have understood Obama’s jokes while he was trying to fly back to his country.
We will have the chance in a few days to falsify that and many other statements
Roman emperors liked “gifts”, too. Some of them even enjoyed watching people being pushed off cliffs.
No he didn’t. He intended, too, but he never showed up. It would be good for a movie though
RCL
???????!
RCL
<meta charset=”utf-8″>
in your header and you don’t take posts containing Cyrillic characters encoded as as utf-8?
RCL
Uh oh…
You’d have to be absurdly naive to believe that Putin wouldn’t sell Snowden out in a heartbeat if doing so could benefit Moscow in the geopolitical arena (e.g., in exchange for removing U.S. sanctions stemming from the Ukraine crisis or the recognition of Crimea as part of Russia). Only the sweetest summer child in town would think Putin appreciates Snowden’s whistle-blowing from some principled privacy rights perspective.
And now we have Trump, who is oddly sympathetic to Putin and Moscow, who calls Snowden a traitor and wants him back (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/472447734860218369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), and is bringing on-board a CIA director (Pompeo) who is frothing at the mouth to get Snowden a death sentence. This is all a recipe for making Snowden an expendable bargaining chip.
I think Trump will pursue Snowden doggedly. After all, we’re talking about the self-proclaimed Deal Maker. Trump is morally bankrupt and if he truly desires a PR win, this is one route for him to go. Why wouldn’t Trump? It would be a jab at the Obama administration, a victory for national security hardliners, and a demonstration of how his Russia reset yielded something beneficial. In the process he might also pursue it to reconcile with the intelligence community that he has left demoralized and bitter.
Snowden has played it cool, downplaying any speculation but what else can he do!? As long as Trump continues his little love affair with Putin, Snowden is in serious danger of arriving on Trump’s doorstep.
ITA
” In the process he might also pursue it to reconcile with the intelligence community that he has left demoralized and bitter.”
LOl. Those poor victims in the intelligence community.
Amazing what he’s done and he’s not even president, yet.
Lindsay Mills. With an ‘s’. :-)
Thanks for sharing this news with us Ryan.
Lind’s’ay … with a :-) then!
*finally got a copy of Stone’s “Snowden” over the holidays. Of course, it paled in comparison to Citizen 4, but Lind’s’ay:-)’s character was more … fully explored. :-)
Gotta give Russia an A+ for their propaganda game.
1. Assist U.S. Citizens in electing a president controlled by ego.
2. Stoke his ego by supporting his campaign.
3. Once he’s elected, reveal comprising information about him while supporting his mandate to govern and railing those who would question his mandate to govern.
4. Wait for his predecessor to pardon a guy who revealed immoral actions by the country he governs.
5. Offer 4 more years of protection to a guy who revealed immoral actions by said government and expose why he felt the need to expose those actions.
It’s pretty clear that Russia sees the opportunity to reclaim the moral high ground here is doing so pretty brilliantly.
Might be a good time to pardon Snowden as well and deal with the sticky moral issues that his revelations revealed…
Ach! The test wasn’t that hard to begin with ;-)
Again, the Western world is so easy to play with?
NATO says it is getting ready to get China out of the China sea and the chinese are like: Bring it on!
RCL
“Maria Zkharova”
Dear American homeschoolers –
How about doing this extraordinary woman the courtesy of spelling the transliteration of her last name properly?
For your own sake, homies. Goes without saying, she don’t care.
Ed Snowden is a no-kidding American hero.
People all over the world are better off for knowing how their governments have been pressed into assisting gross extra-territorial US overreach, and every person in the US owes him thanks for exposing the breathtaking unconstitutionality of the “Intelligence Community” self-defeating behaviors.
Ah! Bipartisan disapproval, no doubt.
Wow. A masterful retort by Maria Zkharova, and puts the lie beautifully to the U.S. propaganda game here.
I surely wouldn’t want to ever work in a snakepit where the boss is so willing to trade and betray people for political vendettas. Russia is almost certainly the pot calling the kettle black, but it doesn’t invalidate the point.