"[312] Snowden disliked Obama's economic policies, was against Social Security, and favored Ron Paul's call for a return to the gold standard. [407], In April 2015, John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, flew to Moscow to interview Edward Snowden. "[177] Leaked slides revealed in Greenwald's book No Place to Hide, released in May 2014, showed that the NSA's stated objective was to "Collect it All," "Process it All," "Exploit it All," "Partner it All," "Sniff it All" and "Know it All. Edward Snowden: Traitor or Hero? - Ethics Unwrapped The news comes nine years after he. He said he is seeking citizenship in Russia to. I presume you do DRAKE: I consider Edward Snowden as a whistle-blower. In the memoir he wrote, "I realized that I was crazy to have imagined that the Supreme Court, or Congress, or President Obama, seeking to distance his administration from President George W. Bush's, would ever hold the IC legally responsiblefor anything". "[231], Four countries offered Snowden permanent asylum: Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Snowden is . [182], According to a report in The Washington Post in July 2014, relying on information furnished by Snowden, 90% of those placed under surveillance in the U.S. are ordinary Americans and are not the intended targets. Updates on the dual citizenship attempt have . I had no material with me before I left Hong Kong, because I knew I was going to have to go through this complex multi-jurisdictional route.. [199] He said the U.S. wanted him to stay in Moscow so "they could say, 'He's a Russian spy. The greatest gift is the love we share. "[344], In June 2013, U.S. [448] The documentary Citizenfour directed by Laura Poitras won Best Documentary Feature at the 87th Academy Awards. Edward Snowden - Wikipedia Harrison accompanied Snowden as he met with Russian officials reportedly in the Kremlin consulate and WikiLeaks bought his ticket to Moscow on June 23. "[105] Nevertheless, in February 2015, Rogers said that Snowden's disclosures had a material impact on the NSA's detection and evaluation of terrorist activities worldwide. [44], Snowden was then employed for less than a year in 2005 as a security guard at the University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language, a research center sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA). The couple hid the babys face with a blushing emoji. T he individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the . [296], On November 1, 2019, new amendments took effect introducing a permanent residence permit for the first time and removing the requirement to renew the pre-2019 so-called "permanent" residence permit every five years. Snowden's life in Russia: 'Much happier than be unfairly tried in US' American whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and subcontractor. Finance reported that for 67 speaking appearances by video link from September 2015May 2020, Snowden had earned more than $1.2million. "[379] "[73] Snowden subsequently told Wired that while at Dell in 2011, "I would sit down with the CIO of the CIA, the CTO of the CIA, the chiefs of all the technical branches. [244][245] A statement attributed to him contended that the U.S. administration, and specifically thenVice President Joe Biden, had pressured the governments to refuse his asylum petitions. His lawyer said that granting an unlimited residence permit became possible after changes in the migration legislation of the Russian Federation in 2019. He described the NSA's PRISM program as the U.S. government using businesses to collect data for them, and that the NSA "intentionally misleads corporate partners" using, as an example, the Bullrun decryption program to create backdoor access. The non-binding resolution denounced unwarranted digital surveillance and included a symbolic declaration of the right of all individuals to online privacy. Edward Snowden Now: Where Is the NSA Whistleblower Today in - Heavy.com Snowden later described Judge Leon's decision as vindication. He said that the disclosures had revealed "methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations. Edward Snowden is a former NSA contractor who leaked highly classified information from the agency in 2013. Former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has been given permanent residency in Russia, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told state-run news agency RIA Novosti . 792 et. [25][26][27][28][29] His older sister, Jessica, was a lawyer at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. Edward Snowden said that he had expected to work for the federal government, as had the rest of his family. Moscow CNN . Stephen P. Mulligan and Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative attorneys for the Congressional Research Service, provide a 2017 analysis[280] of the uses of the Espionage Act to prosecute unauthorized disclosures of classified information, based on what was disclosed, to whom, and how; the burden of proof requirements e.g. "[145], The NSA's top-secret black budget, obtained from Snowden by The Washington Post, exposed the successes and failures of the 16 spy agencies comprising the U.S. intelligence community,[146] and revealed that the NSA was paying U.S. private tech companies for clandestine access to their communications networks. Snowden has retained a prominent Washington attorney who has represented several clients charged with violating the Espionage Act, reportedly in hopes of negotiating a plea deal. They just wanted me gone.As time went by, however, he abandoned his disguises and started moving freely around the city. [115], Greenwald began working with Snowden in either February[118] or April 2013, after Poitras asked Greenwald to meet her in New York City, at which point Snowden began providing documents to them. In Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, more than 80% of people familiar with Snowden view him positively. [446], The film Snowden, based on Snowden's leaking of classified US government material, directed by Russia later granted Snowden the right of asylum with an initial visa for residence for one year, which was subsequently repeatedly extended. They did not care whether I went away to prison. [15], In April 2021, Snowden appeared at a Canadian investment conference sponsored by Sunil Tulsiani, a former policeman who had been barred from trading for life after dishonest behavior. [408], On November 10, 2015, Snowden appeared at the Newseum, via remote video link, for PEN American Center's "Secret Sources: Whistleblowers, National Security and Free Expression," event. Snowden said in July 2013 that he decided to bid for asylum in Russia because he felt there was no safe way to reach Latin America. He chose Hong Kong because at the time they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent. Qubes OS: A reasonably secure operating system | Qubes OS In December 2013, ten days after Judge Leon's ruling, Judge William H. Pauley III came to the opposite conclusion. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, and other publications. [421] Snowden took the opportunity to affirm his role as a whistleblower, inform viewers of Tulsiani's background, and encourage investors to conduct proper research before spending any money. Sweden ultimately rejected Snowden's asylum, however, so the award was accepted by his father, Lon Snowden, on his behalf. ", "Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia", "How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets", "Snowden's First Move Against the NSA Was a Party in Hawaii", The Mastermind Episode 3: He Always Had a Dark Side, "How Edward Snowden led journalist and film-maker to reveal NSA secrets", "Barton Gellman, Glenn Greenwald feud over NSA leaker", "Code name 'Verax': Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks", "Interview with Whistleblower Edward Snowden on Global Spying", "Edward Snowden vows more disclosures about U.S. surveillance", "Edward Snowden faces strong extradition treaty if he remains in Hong Kong", "Timeline of Edward Snowden's revelations | Al Jazeera America", "Greenwald: 'Explosive' NSA Spying Reports Are Imminent", "Snowden docs reveal British spies snooped on YouTube and Facebook", "Journalists who broke NSA story in Guardian dedicate award to Snowden", "The Pulitzer Prizes Just Demolished The Idea That Edward Snowden Is A Traitor", "NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say", "How we know the NSA had access to internal Google and Yahoo cloud data", "Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data", "Explained: Australia's involvement with the NSA, the US spy agency at heart of global scandal", "GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance", "Snowden document shows Canada set up spy posts for NSA", "NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others", "NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program", "How the NSA Almost Killed the Internet | Threat Level", "New Leak Indicates U.S. and Britain Eavesdropped at '09 World Conferences", "NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily", "US spy agency 'taped millions of French calls', "Snowden leaks: France summons US envoy over NSA surveillance claims", "France in the NSA's crosshair: phone networks under surveillance", "XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet', "NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks", "Snowden leaks intelligence 'black budget' to Washington Post | Al Jazeera America", "NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally", "N.S.A. Liam O'Grady, a judge in the Alexandria Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found for the United States (Plaintiff) by summary judgement, on both counts of the action. [4] Snowden says he gradually became disillusioned with the programs with which he was involved, and that he tried to raise his ethical concerns through internal channels but was ignored. Edward Snowden: The Untold Story | WIRED He was a traitor and the information he provided our adversaries greatly hurt the safety of the American people,Bill said. PDF Snowden: Traitor or Hero? - Stossel in the Classroom His second request, under President Emmanuel Macron, was favorably received by Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web", "U.S. and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet", "NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking", "World of Spycraft: NSA and CIA Spied in Online Games", "NSA spied on World of Warcraft, Xbox Live, and Second Life gamers", "Here's what we learned about the NSA's spying programs in 2013", "NSA Officers Spy on Love Interests Washington Wire", "Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied on Porn Habits As Part of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers', "NSA accused of spying on Brazilian oil company Petrobras", "GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief", "Greenwald on Snowden Leaks: The Worst Is Yet to Come", "Only 1% of Snowden files published Guardian editor", "Snowden spy leaks: worst yet to come, says Defence Minister David Johnston", "WASHINGTON: Worlds anger at Obama policies goes beyond Europe and the NSA", "Snowden's Paper Trail: Where in the World Is the NSA? Fears Edward Snowden May Defect to China: Sources", "Exclusive: Snowden as a teen online: anime and cheeky humor", "For Snowden, a Life of Ambition, Despite the Drifting", "U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden's wife shares photos of their new son", "Army Enlisted Job Descriptions and Qualification Factors: 18X Special Forces Enlistment Option", "In Declassified Edward Snowden Report, Committee Walks Back Claims About 'Intentional Lying', "Edward Snowden did enlist for special forces, US army confirms", "University-Affiliated Research Center Laboratories (UARCs)", "Investigators looking into how Snowden gained access at NSA", "Police detain reporters, stop them from photographing alleged NSA facility where Snowden worked", "Edward Snowden Scandal: CIA Sent Him Home But NSA Hired Him Later", "Who Is Edward Snowden, The Self-Styled NSA Leaker? Edward Snowden discloses U.S. government operations On June 6, 2013, Americans learned that their government was spying broadly on its own people. [232] No direct flights between Moscow and Venezuela, Bolivia, or Nicaragua existed, however, and the U.S. pressured countries along his route to hand him over. He asked not to be quoted at length for fear of identification by stylometry. English is his first language as he was born in North Carolina, US in 1983 to an American family. He's already creating a stir (+video)", "The Snowden files: why the British public should be worried about GCHQ", The Promise of May, the Betrayal of June, and the Larger Lesson of Manning and Snowden, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&oldid=1142448925, Revealed classified U.S. Government surveillance programs; in exile in Russia since May 20, 2013, 18 U.S.C. Chief Calls Damage From Snowden Leaks Manageable", "NSA: Snowden leaks hurt ability to track terrorists", "British spies 'moved after Snowden files read', "Snowden leaks: undermining security or defending privacy? "[111][184], In December 2013, upon learning that a U.S. federal judge had ruled the collection of U.S. phone metadata conducted by the NSA as likely unconstitutional, Snowden said, "I acted on my belief that the NSA's mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans' rights. [246] Ecuador had initially offered Snowden a temporary travel document but later withdrew it,[247] and Correa later called the offer a mistake. Phone Data Program", "Watch Top U.S. Intelligence Officials Repeatedly Deny NSA Spying On Americans Over The Last Year (Videos)", "NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, confirms he will stay in Hong Kong and resist US extradition attempts", "CNN Newsroom Transcripts: NSA Leaker Revealed; More on the Santa Monica Shooting; Apple Fans & Investors Watch and Wait; George Zimmerman Trials Begins", "Behind Snowden's Hong Kong exit: fear and persuasion", "Whistle-blower Edward Snowden tells SCMP: 'Let Hong Kong people decide my fate', "Greenwald: Snowden's Files Are Out There if 'Anything Happens' to Him", "Refugees who helped Edward Snowden now look to Canada as their only hope", "After Edward Snowden Fled U.S., Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong Took Him In", "Report: Snowden stayed at Russian consulate while in Hong Kong", "Snowden Calls Russian-Spy Story "Absurd" in Exclusive Interview", "Edward Snowden passed time in airport reading and surfing internet", "Snowden "asked Russian diplomats in Hong Kong for help" - Putin", "Snowden is in 'safe place' waiting for his father to discuss future", "US revokes NSA leaker Edward Snowden's passport, as he reportedly seeks asylum in Ecuador", "Offering Snowden Aid, WikiLeaks Gets Back in the Game", "Snowden leaves Hong Kong; final destination unclear", "Whistleblower Edward Snowden on Trump, Obama & How He Ended Up in Russia to Avoid U.S. [118] "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded," he said. [277] The same day, the Russian president's spokesman reiterated that his government would not hand over Snowden, commenting that Putin was not personally involved in the matter and that it was being handled through talks between the FBI and Russia's FSB. Who is Evan Peters dating now? Beyond that, it was the creeping realization that no one else was going to do this. Edward toldThe Guardianthat Mills was pissed when he left their Hawaii home in a rush. Edward Snowden speaks 4 languages to varying levels. This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights. In that capacity, he was consulted by the chiefs of the CIA's technical branches, including the agency's chief information officer and its chief technology officer. Documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden conclusively prove that the United States has been ruled by a race of tall, white space aliens who also assisted the rise of Nazi Germany in. "[154] The NSA was shown to be secretly accessing Yahoo and Google data centers to collect information from hundreds of millions of account holders worldwide by tapping undersea cables using the MUSCULAR surveillance program. [155][156] Leaked documents showed NSA agents also spied on their own "love interests," a practice NSA employees termed LOVEINT. Snowden added, "If they really wanted to capture me, they would've allowed me to travel to Latin America because the CIA can operate with impunity down there. [391][392], Crediting the Snowden leaks, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted Resolution 68/167 in December 2013. [297][298] The new permanent residence permit must be replaced three times in a lifetime like an ordinary internal passport for Russian citizens. [358], Gary Schmitt, former staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote that "The two decisions have generated public confusion over the constitutionality of the NSA's data collection programa kind of judicial 'he-said, she-said' standoff. Why Edward Snowden Leaked the Secret NSA Information Thus the Snowden documents allegedly contained sensitive NSA blueprints detailing how the NSA operates, and which would allow someone who read them to evade or even duplicate NSA surveillance. After 6 Years in Exile, Edward Snowden Explains Himself Edward expected Mills to be mad at him, but she stated that she loved him and supported his decision to expose the NSA. I was terrified of this place, because, of course, they were the great fortress of the enemy, which is the way a CIA agent looks at Russia.. In 2013, Snowden was hired by an NSA contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, after previous employment with Dell and the CIA. [159] Following the revelation of Black Pearl, a program targeting private networks, the NSA was accused of extending beyond its primary mission of national security. Snowden was directed to a room where Russian intelligence agents offered to assist him in return for access to . Demonizing Edward Snowden: Which Side Are You On? [299] In accordance with that law, Snowden was in October 2020 granted permanent residence in Russia instead of another extension. [208], In October 2013, Snowden said that before flying to Moscow, he gave all the classified documents he had obtained to journalists he met in Hong Kong and kept no copies for himself. Dbq Essay On Edward Snowden - 1418 Words | Internet Public Library [321][322] Shortly before the September 2016 release of his biographical thriller film Snowden, a semi-fictionalized drama based on the life of Edward Snowden with a short appearance by Snowden himself, Oliver Stone said that Snowden should be pardoned, calling him a "patriot above all" and suggesting that he should run the NSA himself. Edward Snowden: A Timeline - NBC News "[100] When asked in a May 2014 interview to quantify the number of documents Snowden stole, retired NSA director Keith Alexander said there was no accurate way of counting what he took, but Snowden may have downloaded more than a million documents. [9][291], In December 2013, Snowden told journalist Barton Gellman that supporters in Silicon Valley had donated enough bitcoins for him to live on. Circuit Judge Gerard E. Lynch wrote that, given the national security interests at stake, it was prudent to give Congress an opportunity to debate and decide the matter. Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 27, 2022 Permanent Residency in Russia In October 2020, Snowden received permanent residency in Russia but he has been maintaining that he has neither. 17 disturbing things Snowden has taught us (so far) /09/edwardsnowdennsawhistleblowersurveillance . Mills suspected that Edward was having an affair. [18], Edward Joseph Snowden was born on June 21, 1983,[19] in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. [293], Snowden's memoir Permanent Record was released internationally on September 17, 2019, and while U.S. royalties were expected to be seized, he was able to receive an advance[293] of $4.2million. Permanent Mission to the United Nations, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Global surveillance disclosures (2013present), PRISM (surveillance program) Responses to disclosures, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Reactions to global surveillance disclosures, Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure, U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, List of awards received by Edward Snowden, transmitting or receiving information when it shouldn't be, Aftermath of the global surveillance disclosures, German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal, List of people who have lived at airports, Russian influence operations in the United States, "Putin grants citizenship to Edward Snowden, who exposed U.S. surveillance", "Putin concede cidadania russa a Edward Snowden", "With two kids under two, it feels like [] for them", "The Snowden Saga: A Shadowland of Secrets and Light", "New Zealand Launched Mass Surveillance Project While Publicly Denying It", "Kerry warns Russia on Snowden: "Respect the relationship", "Edward Snowden gets permanent residency in Russia - lawyer", "Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden", "Edward Snowden swears allegiance to Russia and receives passport, lawyer says", "Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations", "Full Interview: Edward Snowden On Trump, Privacy, And Threats To Democracy | The 11th Hour | MSNBC", "Edward Snowden's New Job: Protecting Reporters From Spies", "Snowden flouts court ruling with paid speeches, Substack: 'He's above the law', "Snowden's book doesn't mention a job at 'one of Russia's biggest websites,' and former CIA officials suspect a darker reality", "I was very much a person the most powerful government in the world wanted to go away", "U.S. court: Mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden was illegal", "Edward Snowden was not successful in joining the US Army's elite special forces unit", "Report: Snowden has document to enter Russia", "NSA leaker Edward Snowden has ties to North Carolina", "Edward Snowden's Motive Revealed: He Can 'Sleep at Night', "Edward Snowden's father, stepmother plan to make public statement", "Edward Snowden: Who is he, and what kind of life is he leaving behind? [125], Within months, documents had been obtained and published by media outlets worldwide, most notably The Guardian (Britain), Der Spiegel (Germany), The Washington Post and The New York Times (U.S.), O Globo (Brazil), Le Monde (France), and similar outlets in Sweden, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Australia. A spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins said that the university did not find records to show that Snowden attended the university, and suggested that he may instead have attended Advanced Career Technologies, a private for-profit organization that operated as the Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins University. [272][273][274], On September 26, 2022, Putin granted Snowden Russian citizenship, making it impossible to extradite him to any country. Despite that, he admits that the way people in the US perceive him has softened in recent years. Edward loves traveling, and though he is restricted to Russias borders, he has plenty to see in the vast nation. [219] WikiLeaks said he was on a circuitous but safe route to asylum in Ecuador. Snowden remains exiled in Russia, but his impact continues to be felt by governments worldwide. '"[72] Greenwald's account differed on the point of Snowden being already ticketed. And when I came here I did not understand any of this. [52] In February 2009, Snowden resigned from the CIA. [8] Two days later, he flew into Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, where Russian authorities observed the canceled passport, and he was restricted to the airport terminal for over one month. On October 31, 2013, Snowden met with German Green Party lawmaker Hans-Christian Strbele in Moscow to discuss the possibility of Snowden giving testimony in Germany. "[16] On September 17, 2019, his memoir Permanent Record was published. "[270], On April 16, 2020, CNN reported that Edward Snowden had requested a three-year extension of his Russian residency permit. [220] Snowden had a seat reserved to continue to Cuba[221] but did not board that onward flight, saying in a January 2014 interview that he intended to transit through Russia but was stopped en route. The reactions of those I told about the scale of the constitutional violations ranged from deeply concerned to appalled, but no one was willing to risk their jobs, families, and possibly even freedom to go to [sic] through what [Thomas Andrews] Drake did. [228][229][215] An anonymous U.S. official not authorized to discuss the matter told the Associated Press Snowden's passport had been revoked before he left Hong Kong, but that a senior official in a country or airline could order subordinates to overlook the withdrawn passport. Germany and India rejected Snowden's application outright, while Austria, Ecuador, Finland, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain said he must be on their territory to apply. [215] That same day, Julian Assange said that WikiLeaks had paid for Snowden's lodging in Hong Kong and his flight out. [318][319] He stated, "There are many, many peopleit seems to be a split decision that many people think that he should be somehow treated differently, and other people think he did very bad things, and I'm going to take a very good look at it. He has revealed many global surveillance programs which have been run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance. [192][193] Snowden also told the Post that "the United States government has committed a tremendous number of crimes against Hong Kong [and] the PRC as well,"[194] going on to identify Chinese Internet Protocol addresses that the NSA monitored and stating that the NSA collected text-message data for Hong Kong residents. What Happened: Snowden said he has "lost confidence" that. "[350] The report was denounced by Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman, who, in an opinion piece for The Century Foundation, called it "aggressively dishonest" and "contemptuous of fact. The people are warm. . On September 16, 2019, it was reported that Snowden had said he "would love" to get political asylum in France. Snowden explained why he rejected the request: What he doesn't say are that the crimes that he's charged me with are crimes that don't allow me to make my case. [15], On June 23, 2013, Snowden landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport aboard a commercial Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong. The report found that Snowden's revelations were important for people everywhere and made "a deep and lasting impact on law, policy, and politics. [86] In June 2014, the NSA said it had not been able to find any records of Snowden raising internal complaints about the agency's operations. In the course of their daily work, they stumble across something that is completely unrelated in any sort of necessary sensefor example, an intimate nude photo of someone in a sexually compromising situation. . In 2013, Sn. [109] Gus Hosein, executive director of Privacy International, criticized the report for, in his opinion, presuming that the public became concerned about privacy only after Snowden's disclosures. He said: One of the things that is lost on all the problematic politics of the Russian government is the fact this is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. "[12] His disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy, something that he has said he intended to do in retrospective interviews. "[119] He also said that the system for reporting problems did not work. "[237], On July 1, 2013, president Evo Morales of Bolivia, who had been attending a conference in Russia, suggested during an interview with RT (formerly Russia Today) that he would consider a request by Snowden for asylum.