Russia Considers Returning Snowden to U.S. to ‘Curry Favor’ With Trump

Former deputy national security adviser Juan Zarate urged the Trump administration to be cautious in accepting any Snowden offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zarate said, "For Russia, this would be a win-win.

• They've already extracted what they needed from Edward Snowden in terms of information and
• they've certainly used him to beat the United States over the head in terms of its surveillance and cyber activity,"

"It would signal warmer relations and some desire for greater cooperation with the new administration, but it would also no doubt stoke controversies and cases in the U.S. around the role of surveillance, the role of the U.S. intelligence community, and the future of privacy and civil liberties in an American context.

"All of that would perhaps be music to the ears of Putin."
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The White House had no comment, but the Justice Department told NBC News it would welcome the return of Snowden, who currently faces federal charges that carry a minimum of 30 years in prison. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talk about returning Snowden is "nonsense."



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russia-eyes-sending-snowden-u-s-gift-trump-official-n718921