The U.S. government hints that it may be ready to strike a deal with Edward Snowden. The whistle-blower would be allowed to return to the U.S., but he would have to be incarcerated. Experiences of other whistle-blowers show the kind of strategy that is behind such an offer.
Eric Holder is not just the U.S. attorney general — he is also familiar with the nuances of political rhetoric. He told MSNBC that pardoning whistle-blower Edward Snowden would be going too far. Snowden had “caused harm to our national security and I think he has to be held accountable for his actions.”
Yet Holder is willing to make a compromise. His department is more than ready to discuss reducing Snowden’s sentence with his lawyers, as long as Snowden comes back to the U.S. This is the footnote that leaves people speculating: Is this the beginning of a big negotiation revolving around the return of a man who disclosed the spying activities of the NSA and other Western secret services?
Recently, Snowden himself suggested that he would be happy to leave his involuntary exile in Moscow. He wrote in a chat on the website freesnowden.is that ‘”Returning to the U.S., I think, is the best resolution for the government, the public and myself.”
However, due to the current whistle-blower protection laws, Snowden’s return is not possible. Through a shortcoming in the law, “national security contractors like [Snowden]” were not covered.
The Law Does Not Offer Snowden Many Possibilities
The whistle-blower laws, protecting those working for the government, are indeed complicated. Since 2012, more laws have been put in place to protect whistle-blowers. This means that, if they can prove an abuse or a wrongdoing, employees of secret services and the military will not face suppression of their activities. However, what is missing are laws protecting the employees of the intelligence services’ service providers, such as Snowden, who was working for Booz Allen Hamilton when he stole the valuable information.
It is unlikely, however, that this gap will be closed — for instance, the U.S. government does not regard unveiling information as the kind of “patriotic act” of which Barack Obama spoke during elections. Instead, passing on information is sanctioned very harshly — the Espionage Act of 1917, as opposed to the Whistleblower Protection Act, is used in such instances and interprets the disclosure of information as collaborating with the enemy.
The U.S. president has, due to this law, started proceedings against more whistle-blowers than all previous presidents combined. There have been eight criminal proceedings, the most prominent case being the WikiLeaks informant Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning.
Public prosecutors have also charged Snowden with espionage for stealing government property and treason against the state. This is being used to justify the attempt to extradite Snowden.
Such claims will lead many whistle-blowers to close a deal with the public prosecution. Despite spending some time in prison, they will avoid spending decades in a cell.
“The effect of the charge on a person’s life — being viewed as a traitor, being shunned by family and friends, incurring massive legal bills — is all a part of the plan to force the whistle-blower into personal ruin, to weaken him to the point where he will plead guilty to just about anything to make the case go away.” These words come from John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison because he disclosed information about the systematic torture activities of the secret services.
What Happens at the End of July?
Critics believe Snowden did not turn to the appropriate institutions to make his concern public. “If I had revealed what I knew about these unconstitutional but classified programs to Congress, they could have charged me with a felony,” Snowden said in his own defense in the chat.
Due to the extensive and explosive nature of the published materials, the 30-year-old would have a long prison sentence if the case went to trial. The whistle-blower has made the criticism that, due to the use of the Espionage Act, “there’s no chance to have a fair trial.” There is “no way I can come home and make my case to a jury.”
This sounds like a clear refusal despite an uncertain future: Snowden’s year-long right to seek asylum in Russia expires at the end of July.
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