(Newswire.net — February 12, 2017) — Reacting to the latest U.S. media reports claiming former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, could be ‘gifted’ to Trump, the whistleblower said that if true, this only confirms he had never worked for Russians.
Seeing this possibility as “irrefutable evidence” of his lack of any ties with the Russian intelligence, Snowden tweeted “No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they’re next”.
Former NSA employer used a similar argument in an interview in December, when asked how he feels about the possible extradition that he could face. Snowden admitted to reporter, Katie Couric, that he is concerned for his life and liberty, but that the extradition would clearly prove that he is not a spy.
“I’m actually kind of encouraged… It wasn’t so many years ago that people were saying, ‘This guy’s a Russian spy.’ But countries don’t give up their spies”, the whistleblower told Couric.
Snowden fears he has become a great political burden to Russia amid allegations that Moscow cyber-attacked the U.S. The whistleblower said that he might be ‘gifted’ to Trump’s administration as a sign of Putin’s good will to resolve the conflict with the U.S.
The NBC News published a report on Friday citing an unnamed “senior U.S. official” who claimed the Russians are seriously considering the extradition of Snowden to the U.S. as a favor to president Trump.
The official said that he came to this conclusion after studying “series of highly sensitive intelligence reports.”
Snowden’s lawyer, Ben Wizner, however, claims that nothing indicates the possibility that Snowden might be handed over to Trump’s administration.
“Team Snowden has received no such signals and has no new reason for concern,” Wizner said.
Moscow officially didn’t comment the claims, however, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, denied such a possibility, calling it the “ideology of betrayal.”
Zakharova argued that by proposing to trade Snowden for a potential favor, Morell shows that “it is normal [for CIA] to present people as gifts and give up those who seek protection.”
Former CIA director, Michael Morell, suggested that Moscow would extradite Snowden to Trump as an “inauguration gift,” adding it would also be a “poke…in the eye of Barack Obama.”
Trump called Snowden a “coward, traitor and a disgrace” and promised that the whistleblower would eventually face a trial in the U.S.
Snowden was given asylum in Russia where he resides since 2013. A year later, Snowden’s girlfriend, an American dancer, Lindsay Mills, joined him in Moscow. In January 2017, Snowden’s asylum and working permit in Russia were successfully renewed for two more years, Zakharova confirmed.