Lonnie Snowden, the father of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, said he doesn’t believe his son has committed treason but acknowledged he had broken the law.
Speaking with NBC’s Michael Isikoff during a Today show interview, the elder Snowden said he expected his son would return to the United States willingly if he were able to remain free while awaiting trial and would not be subject to a gag order.
Lonnie Snowden, in an interview earlier this month with Fox News, asked his son not to release “any more information,” while praising his character.
President Obama said Thursday that his administration would not be “scrambling jets” in order to catch Snowden who is believed to be in Russia after leaking a series of classified documents to media outlets that revealed an extensive U.S. counterterrorism surveillance program by the National Security Agency. Russia President Vladimir Putin said the country would not extradite Snowden and that he is a “free man.”
Watch the full Today interview above.
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