U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a "gift" to President Donald Trump — who has called the NSA leaker a "spy" and a "traitor" who deserves to be executed, NBC reveals.
That's according to a senior U.S. official who has analyzed a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports detailing Russian deliberations and who says a Snowden handover is one of various ploys to "curry favor" with Trump. A second source in the intelligence community confirms the intelligence about the Russian conversations and notes it has been gathered since the inauguration.
Snowden's ACLU lawyer, Ben Wizner, told NBC News they are unaware of any plans that would send him back to the United States.
"Team Snowden has received no such signals and has no new reason for concern," Wizner said.
Snowden responded to NBC's report on Twitter and said it shows that he did not work with the Russian government.
"Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel," Snowden said. "No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they're next."
Snowden was working as a contractor at a National Security Agency facility in Hawaii when he began stealing top-secret documents that he gave to journalists in 2013, exposing details of U.S. domestic surveillance programs.
After Snowden fled to Hong Kong and was charged with violating the U.S. Espionage Act, he ended up in Russia. Moscow granted him refuge and officials say his residency permit was recently extended until 2020.
