White House Declines To Comment On Snowden's Russian Citizenship

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2022) White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday declined to comment on Russia granting citizenship to former US intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden.

"Since, I believe, there have been criminal charges brought against him, we would point you to the Department of Justice for any specifics on this," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing.

Snowden's wife will also soon apply for Russian citizenship, the whistleblower's lawyer in Russia, Anatoly Kucherena, told Sputnik.

According to the lawyer, Snowden's daughter, who was born in Russia, received Russian citizenship by birth.

Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor, leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents in 2013. In addition to exposing the US domestic surveillance program, Snowden's documents also illustrated the size and scope of US spying on other nations, including routine eavesdropping on world leaders.

Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong and then to Russia where he spent more than a month stranded at a Moscow airport while the United States was trying to have him handed over to face a criminal trial on spying charges. He was granted asylum in Russia and received a three-year residence permit in the summer of 2014, which was extended and eventually replaced by a permanent one.