Only a day after soon-to-be-former President Obama reduce prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Russian government make a statement on Wednesday about the fate of Edward J. Snowden, the other main authority responsible of secrets leak about United States surveillance in the past years.
Edward J. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, 2013 got protection granted by the Russian nation, and will be allowed to stay Russia for “a couple more years,” wrote Maria Zakharova on Facebook, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry.
The funniest thing is that the former deputy director of the C.I.A. !!! does not know that Snowden’s residence permit in Russia was just extended for a couple more years, and seriously, the essence of what the C.I.A. agent is suggesting is an ideology of betrayal. You spoke, Mr. Morrell, and now it’s clear to everybody that in your office, it’s normal to bring gifts in the form of people, and to hand over those who seek defense.” said Maria Zakharova on Facebook.
He and his supporters have been campaigning for an acquit from soon-to-be-former President Obama, yet the odds of forgiveness give were little, and his name did not show up on a rundown of acquittals on Tuesday.
Replying on a question about why Edward J. Snowden and Chelsea Manning were being treated differently, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said the secret documents disclosed by the former N.S.A. contractor were “far more serious and far more dangerous” than the documents leaked by Chelsea Manning.
“I think when people look at the calculations of benefit, it is clear that in the wake of 2013, the laws of our nation changed, Congress, the courts and the president all changed their policies as a result of these disclosures.” said Snowden in an interview with The Guardian in September, about his disclosures about government surveillance were not only morally right and ethically perfectly fine but that they also led to an overhaul of secrecy laws that benefited Americans.
The Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova did not specify how long Edward J. Snowden’s residence visa had been extended. Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly G. Kucherena, told the RIA news agency that it was valid until 2020, giving him a path to citizenship.
