Snowden's father says whistle-blower may return if conditions met
The father of whistle-blower and former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview that while he has not had recent contact with him, he is reasonably confident his son would return to the United States if certain conditions were met.
The father of whistle-blower and former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview that while he has not had recent contact with him, he is reasonably confident his son would return to the United States if certain conditions were met.
Those conditions could include not detaining Snowden before trial, not subjecting him to a gag order and letting him choose the location of his trial, NBC News said on Friday.
The NBC report added that Lonnie Snowden plans to make those points in a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder to be sent through his lawyer later on Friday. Representatives for the Justice Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the letter.
Lonnie Snowden, in part of the NBC interview that aired on the Today Show, also said he was concerned that his son, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, was being manipulated by others, including people from the anti-government secrecy group WikiLeaks.
He has betrayed his government, but I don’t believe that he’s betrayed the people of the United States
“I am concerned about those who surround him,” he told NBC. ” Wikileaks – if you look at past history – their focus isn’t necessarily the Constitution of the United States. It’s simply to release as much information as possible. So that alone is a concern for me.”