How will the next administration deal with Snowden?

In June 2013, Edward Snowden shocked the world by disclosing perhaps the nation's most tightly held secret: that the US engages in domestic surveillance. He was met with both criticism, from those who believe he was a traitor, as well as love, from those who believed he sacrificed his livelihood to reveal government mispractice. For over a decade, his supporters have unsuccessfully advocated a pardon for Snowden who currently faces espionage charges and unwillingly lives in Russia to avoid prosecution. With a new administration coming to power in under 2 months, the question of pardoning Snowden has come back to light. Trump has promised to radically reshape the government, but will this result in a pardoned Snowden?

Who is Edward Snowden?

Edward Snowden is an American born, and now Russian naturalized, man who worked in the US intelligence community. He began his career working for the CIA in 2006, and later worked as a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor under Dell and, later, Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden, who worked as a system administrator, was given sweeping access to a large amount of NSA files, which allowed him to investigate US surveillance. 

In May 2013, Snowden requested a medical leave from his NSA job at the Hawaii Cryptologic Center. He soon afterwards traveled to Hong Kong, under the guise of getting treatment for his epilepsy. In reality, however, Snowden traveled to Hong Kong to meet with journalists Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald to whistleblow government surveillance programs he found unethical and unconstitutional. Snowden has defended his actions in part because it was the journalists who decided what ought to be published and not him. 

Edward Snowden. Source: Barton Gellman/Getty Images

What did Snowden reveal?

Snowden revealed wide-spread domestic surveillance that began under George Bush in response to 9/11. Disclosed on June 5th, 2013, Snowden first revealed that the US collects phone metadata when Americans place phone calls. This information includes the phone number of both parties, call duration, device location, and device identifiers. The next day, June 6th, Snowden revealed the PRISM program, which allows the US government to collect email, photos, videos, files, login data, video and voice chats, and more directly from US companies like Google or Microsoft. In July, XKEYSCORE was disclosed, which is the NSA search engine that allows the government to analyze internet data. The data accessible could include a person's email, search history, location, or documents. These were not the only programs Snowden disclosed; he disclosed many more. 

This surveillance was not just on foreigners, but also on American citizens. And this data was collected without warrant, something Snowden has argued is unconstitutional under the 4th amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Hero or Traitor?

The debate about whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor continues to rage on more than a decade after the disclosures. The US government has argued Snowden “did tremendous damage to U.S. national security” and has charged him with espionage, meaning if Snowden came back to America, he would be arrested. 

Proponents of Snowden argue that he is a hero who revealed government malpractice. They assert that Snowden helped start a public dialogue about US surveillance and even led to meaningful change. For example, in response to the disclosures, Obama adjusted the Patriot Act, which authorized surveillance, into the Freedom Act which afforded more civil liberties. And additionally, many of the programs Snowden revealed were later found to be potentially unconstitutional. A recent Pew Research poll found that 57% of people aged 18-29 believe Snowden served the public interest. 

What has Trump said?

President-elect Trump is now Snowden's best chance of being pardoned and returning to America. But his opinion of Snowden has varied over the years. In 2013, Trump suggested Snowden should be executed, and in 2016 he declared Snowden a “total traitor.” Yet, in August of 2020, Trump acknowledged that he would consider a pardon for Snowden, although he ultimately didn’t follow through with it. 

It seems, however, that Trump is more likely to pardon Snowden under his second term. Trump's cabinet is full of people who have publicly supported Snowden. Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump appointed as the Director of National Intelligence, co-sponsored a resolution in 2020 to pardon Snowden and has said she would pardon him when she ran for president in 2019. Trump’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has also supported Snowden, saying that he “performed a critical public service.” RFK Jr. even suggested that he would build a statue of Snowden. Vivek Ramaswamy, who is co-leading the Department of Government Efficiency, has said Snowden's actions were “heroic.” And although Matt Gaetz is no longer in consideration for Attorney General after dropping out, he still is likely to influence Trump. He has taken a positive stance towards Snowden in the past, co-authoring the resolution with Tulsi Gabbard attempting to pardon Snowden. Simply, Trump’s campaign is full of Snowden supporters. Trump, who has been known to be influenced by those around him, is likely to take their views into consideration.

Trump’s personal experiences might also incline him to pardon Snowden. After believing his campaign was spied on (something that has not been proven), Trump has supported ending FISA 702, which enables the warrantless surveillance that Snowden disclosed. Trump has also promised sweeping pardons during his presidency, including for those who partook in January 6th. He could very easily add Snowden to that list of those to pardon if his advisors suggest for him to do so. And Trump’s general belief that he was subject to a political prosecution might motivate him to pardon others who believe they were also subject to unfair prosecutions—in this case, Snowden. 

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In June of this year, the DOJ offered a plea deal to Julian Assange who has spent years in prison in relation to his founding of WikiLeaks—which published top-secret US documents regarding, among other things, the war on terror. With Assange free, the US government has already set the precedent of freeing controversial figures, and the focus is back on Snowden. It seems more likely than ever before that Snowden might—albeit controversially—return to the United States in the next four years. Time will tell.