Instead of being served up as an "inauguration gift" to Donald Trump as suggested by a former acting director of the CIA, Russia is allowing Edward Snowden to stay in the country until 2020.
Snowden's Asylum In Russia
According to Computerworld, director of press at Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said in a post on her Facebook page that Russia has extended a residence permit to Snowden for a couple more years. More precisely, National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower is allowed to stay in the country until 2020.
Snowden's attorney explained that the controversial NSA whistleblower has been in Russia since the summer of 2013. He added that, if he chooses to do so, Snowden could apply for Russian citizenship after five years of living in Russia. This term will be met next year.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has been stolen and made available to the public highly controversial classified information. Since then, he is living in Russia as a guest of the government there. The disclosures made by Snowden were mostly related to one specific NSA program that led to a public debate resulting in some sensible change. However, the intelligence community in the U.S. accused Snowden that, by the totality of his disclosures, he caused substantial damage to the overall national security of the country.
Among the charges against Snowden is the fact that his disclosures benefited ISIS. Among those supporting this point of view is former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen, and other former senior intelligence officials. The Congress invited current senior intelligence officials to testify to the broader damage done. The damage caused was profound, as concluded by the 2016 bipartisan House Intelligence Committee Report on Snowden.
Why Putting Giving Snowden To Trump Would Make Sense?
A post on The Cipher Brief written by the former acting director of the CIA Michael Morell suggested that the inauguration of the President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20 provides an excellent opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to give him Snowden as the perfect inauguration gift. Morell also explained in his post the reasons why in his opinion this move would make sense to Putin.
Among the reasons, Morell said that this move would allow the soon-to-be President to show that he could accomplish in very short-term something that the traditional security establishment and President Obama could not. It would also allow the President-elect to publicly demonstrate that his new approach to Russia and his relationship with Putin are paying dividends for America.
The Russian President would need to build a strong relationship with the incoming U.S. President in order for the U.S. to overlooks Moscow's destabilizing activities abroad and anti-democratic activities at home in exchange for a partnership on terrorism, extremism and other issues where the interests of the two countries overlap. This would make President Putin being seen abroad and at home as an equal of the U.S. President, one of the things he desires the most. But according to The Guardian, Zakharova explained why Putin will not give Snowden to Trump. According to her, there is the risk for Putin that giving up Snowden would be seen as a betrayal.
