I did a dangerous thing for a man in my position. pic.twitter.com/mjlNNp9mEJ
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 2, 2019
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has been offered permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship by the Russian government.
Snowden fled to Russia after publicizing thousands of confidential documents revealing massive surveillance programs run by the U.S. government against U.S. citizens.
He had reportedly hoped to seek asylum in a Latin American country originally, but wound up in Russia through Hong Kong.
His lawyer has said, however, that it is highly unlikely his client would actually pursue Russian citizenship.
The events come on the heels of President Trump shocking many within D.C.’s beltway by openly musing about pardoning Snowden late this summer.
“I’m going to take a very good look at it,” Trump said at the time. “There are a lot of people that think that he is not being treated fairly. I mean, I hear that.”