Russia has contemplated¹ returning Edward Snowden to the United States as a "gift" to President Trump², less than four years after the former NSA contractor³ took refuge there, according to a new report.

 

根据一篇新报道，俄罗斯正考虑将前美国国家安全局泄密者爱德华·斯诺登遣返美国，作为献给新任总统特朗普的“礼物”。斯诺登已经在俄罗斯避难达三年多。

 

The report from NBC News cites two US intelligence officials who have analyzed⁴ sensitive intelligence on internal Russian deliberations since the inauguration⁵. The officials say the option was one of several designed to win the good graces of the US president.

 

It would also present new perils⁶ for Mr. Snowden, who faces charges that would land him in prison for a minimum of 30 years if convicted. And it seems likely that under the new president, the Justice Department would be unlikely to pursue anything but the stiffest penalties: Trump calls the former contractor a "traitor⁷" and a "spy," and in a 2013 interview on Fox & Friends, even suggested he should be executed.

 

The report resurfaces debates over how Snowden's actions ought to be characterized, at a time when influential⁸ supporters have sought to win over a US public that remains⁹ divided about who he is, or what he did. And in a Friday-night Twitter post, Snowden pointed¹⁰ to the news as evidence that the temporary asylum¹¹ granted him by Russia did not involve a quid pro¹² quo, as US authorities have charged.

 

"Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel," he wrote. "No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they're next."

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