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RT
December 17, 2013
The White House said on Monday that it does not support amnesty for NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The comment comes after the head of an agency investigative unit probing the leaks suggested that amnesty was worth considering.
During a Sunday interview with CBS’ ‘60 Minutes,’ Richard Ledgett – leader of a National Security Agency task force reviewing the unauthorized disclosures by Snowden – said it could be warranted to offer the former NSA contractor amnesty if he promised to not participate in any future leaks.
“My personal view is, yes, it’s worth having a conversation about,” Ledgett said. “I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured, and my bar for those assurances would be very high. It would be more than just an assertion on his part.”
But the White House made clear that its position has not changed when it comes to Snowden – who is currently living in Russia under temporary political asylum after handing over tens of thousands of classified documents on the NSA’s global surveillance apparatus to journalists earlier this year.
“Mr. Snowden is accused of leaking classified information and faces felony charges here in the United States,” said Caitlin Hayden, spokesperson for the National Security Council. “He should be returned to the US as soon as possible, where he will be accorded full due process and protections.”
Snowden faces the punitive Espionage Act for the leaks, which began in early June with the revelation that the NSA collects troves of Americans’ telephony metadata. The program is overseen by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, which has repeatedly reauthorized the bulk collection.
