The possibility exists that NSA leaker Edward Snowden could make a deal with the Justice Department to return to the United States, former Attorney General Eric Holder
told Yahoo News.
Holder told Yahoo's Michael Isikoff, "we are in a different place as a result of the Snowden disclosures," and Snowden's "actions spurred a necessary debate."
Snowden has been living in Moscow for the past two years since he exposed the government's bulk collection of metadata of Americans' phone calls. He took up to 1.7 million government documents with him.
Asked by Isikoff whether Snowden might be able to get a plea bargain, Holder replied, "I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with. I think the possibility exists."
As attorney general, Holder charged Snowden with three felony counts of violating the Espionage Act, and said at the time that while he would be willing to talk to Snowden if he returned to the United States, no promise of clemency was on the table.
Isikoff said sources told Yahoo News that Robert Litt, chief counsel to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, has suggested a possible deal for Snowden in which he would plead guilty to one felony count and fully cooperate with the government in exchange for a three-to-five-year prison sentence.