14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden would like to go back home, to the United States, if it were possible, but for now, that doesn’t seem to be an option.
In a rare interview he offered the US media, Edward Snowden told NBC’s Nightly News that he would love to go home. “I don’t think there’s ever been any question that I’d like to go home. I mean, I’ve from day one said that I’m doing this to serve my country,” Snowden said.
He is referring, of course, to informing the citizens of the United States that their government was spying on them, regardless of whether they have any type of connection to the criminal world or with terrorism.
The whistleblower mentioned that if there were talks about amnesty or clemency, he might return, but that was a discussion for the public to have, and the government. “If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home,” he admitted.
Snowden has also talked about how he ended up in Russia and that he always gives the same answer when asked why he picked this country: “please ask the State Department.” He said that he had a flight booked to Cuba and he got stopped on the Russian airport because his passport was revoked. Snowden ended up spending over a month in the transit area of the airport before he was granted asylum.
Secretary of State John Kerry has responded to Snowden’s statement, saying that it was a dumb answer and calling him a coward. “He is a traitor. And he has betrayed his country and should face the music,” Kerry said, asking the whistleblower to man up and return to the United States.
Despite everything that the Obama administration has said about him, Snowden still sees himself as a patriot.
“Being a patriot doesn't mean prioritizing service to government above all else. Being a patriot means knowing when to protect your country, knowing when to protect your Constitution, knowing when to protect your countrymen from the—the violations of and encroachments of adversaries. And those adversaries don't have to be foreign countries,” he stated, adding that even bad policies, state officials and the government can put citizens in danger.
Snowden continued that he’d like the whistleblower laws to be reformed to cover contractors, and the Espionage Act to differentiate between those who sell secrets to foreign powers and those who return information to the public, as he did.