The German media network ARD published an exclusive interview with Edward Snowden, a former employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, earlier this week. The 30-minute interview has managed to escape widespread attention among the American press according to BenSwann.com, but emerged in the U.S. on Friday.
Snowden's discussion was filmed in an undisclosed location in Russia and is his first time interviewing with a major television network. In the video, Snowden chronicles the fallout of his revelations that were provided to American media outlets like the Washington Post and New York Times.
President Obama has called for Mr. Snowden's return and asked him to 'make his case' in the courts. Likewise, questions of his return are on many Americans' minds. When asked why he is choosing not to return to the U.S. Snowden responded:
"What doesn't say is that the crimes that he's charged me with are crimes that don't allow me to make my case. They don't allow me to defend myself in an open court, to the public, and convince a jury that what I did was to their benefit. The Espionage Act... it's from 1918, was never intended to prosecute journalistic sources, people who are informing the newspapers about information that is in the public interest."