NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said that he would gladly "volunteer" for prison if it meant being able to come home to the United States.
Snowden, who was recently issued a permit that allows him to stay three more years in Russia, gave on of his most extensive interviews to date, taking the opportunity to dispute some of the allegations that have been leveled against him by his own government.
In an interview, Snowden played the martyr, saying that the fate of his country weighs more on his mind that his own future. He said that he would be willing to go to prison, but only on his own terms.
"I told the government I'd volunteer for prison, as long as it served the right purpose... I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can't allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I'm not going to be part of that," he said.
The article, which describes Snowden as "The Most Wanted Man In The World," details how he rose the ranks from being a security guard in a top secret facility to becoming a contractor for some of the largest intelligence agencies in the world. He said that he would regularly meet with the technical heads of the CIA, where he was tasked with finding solutions to the hardest technology problems. He also detailed his assignments in Geneva and Tokyo, outlining the growth of the disillusionment that pushed him to make damaging revelations against American intelligence agencies.
In the article, Snowden disputed the government's claim that he had stolen 1.7 million documents. He said that the figure is an exaggeration that is mostly rooted on the agency's technological ineptness. Snowden claims that he left clues so that the government would have a good idea what documents he stole. He said that before he made his revelations, he left "digital bread crumbs" that were supposed to help authorities figure out which documents he copied and which documents he simply touched. He claims that he did so to make it clear what his purpose was whistleblowing and not espionage.
The NSA did not comment on Snowden's claims. Instead, the agency urged him to stop running from the law. "If Mr. Snowden wants to discuss his activities, that conversation should be held with the US Department of Justice. He needs to return to the United States to face the charges against him," Vanee Vines, a spokesperson for the NSA, told Wired.
