Russia Wants to Offload Snowden

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

SNOWDEN BACK TO USA?

The headline on The Drudge Report this morning is that Russia is considering extraditing Edward Snowden to the United States as a "gift" to President Donald J. Trump.

President Obama had previously requested Snowden’s return.  The Democrats consider Snowden to be a traitor (not because of what he did, but because of when he did it.  Snowden's actions were damaging to their ideology - I guarantee you, if Snowden's reports had damaged the Republican Party, the Democrats would have held him up as a hero).  Russia rejected Obama's plea for Snowden (which is, perhaps, part of the reason they were erroneously convinced that Putin favored a Trump win in November).  The Russian response of refusing to give Snowden back ticked off Obama, and his leftist Democrats.

Now that the White House is no longer under the control of Obama and his merry band of socialist leftists, Russia wants to give Snowden back, and President Trump never even asked for him.  We must ask, "Why?"

Has Snowden worn out his welcome in Russia?  Is there something Putin wants in return from Trump?  Is it true that Putin likes Trump, prefers Trump, and perhaps is not the hardliner everyone thinks he is? (don't hold your breath on that one).

Interestingly, Trump's opinion of Snowden seems to be harsher than that of Obama's.  President Donald Trump has called the NSA leaker a “spy” and a “traitor” who deserves to be executed for his treasonous behavior.

The potential offering of Snowden to the U.S. was uncovered by the intelligence community.  A senior U.S. official who has analyzed a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports detailing Russian deliberations says a Snowden handover is one of various ploys to “curry favor” with Trump.

Which brings up a fourth possibility.  Could it be that Trump makes Putin nervous, and Snowden is a peace offering so as to appease the new President of the United States?

The White House has yet to make a 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, however, has said talk about returning Snowden is “nonsense.” 

I have a feeling this is not the last we've heard of this.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary