俄罗斯正考虑将斯诺登遣返美国
Russia has contemplated returning Edward Snowden to the United States as a "gift" to President Trump, less than four years after the former NSA contractor 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 analyzed sensitive intelligence on internal Russian deliberations since the inauguration. The officials say the option was one of several designed to win the good graces of the US president.
It would also present new perils 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 "traitor" 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 influential supporters have sought to win over a US public that remains divided about who he is, or what he did. And in a Friday-night Twitter post, Snowden pointed to the news as evidence that the temporary asylum granted him by Russia did not involve a quid pro 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."