The father of NSA leaker Edward Snowden spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on AC360 Monday evening about his son’s actions.
Lon Snowden told Cooper that he doesn’t believe his son can get a fair trial in the U.S. and that he has absolutely no faith in Eric Holder, the Attorney General.
(Transcript below the video).
Cooper: “What do you think people don’t understand about what your son did?”
Snowden: “Well, I think, probably the large majority of Americans first of all have not seen his 12 minute video. I’ve spoken to close friends who know this is my son and we talk and I realize they haven’t listened to the video. They don’t really understand what the fourth amendment is. So, I think that there’s much that’s [inaudible], the American people, the media to be quite honest, has not done a very good job of laying out the facts in digestible form. There has been a clear effort by those who have been threatened politically and/or embarrassed by these revelations to focus on the, so to speak, sinner — my son who has revealed these — instead of the sins, the actual revelations.”
Cooper: “In a letter to the Justice Department, to the Obama administration, you describe what your son did as civil disobedience. There are those who say, look, civil disobedience is accepting the ramifications of your actions, of your decisions, of taking the punishment. Why do you see this as civil disobedience?”
Snowden: “Well first of all, I think he is accepting the consequences. Again, if you look at his 12 minute video and what he said, he’s not living a very comfortable life at this point. He said he’s an American, he loves his country. I know my son. I know he loves his country. What he believed is that this information, the American people needed to be aware of what their government was doing to them.”
Cooper: “Do you believe him [Holder] when he says that, when he says there’s no death penalty and the United States doesn’t torture?”
Snowden: “Well at this point I believe it would be in the best interest of the Justice Department, and we’ve attempted to work with the Justice Department and both the people investigating this, and I just do not believe that that collaboration, that the good faith exists anymore. So I’m very very disappointed and we’ve attempted to get assurances that Ed would receive a fair trial. I have absolutely no faith in Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States. None.”
Cooper: “You don’t believe your son would receive a fair trial.”
Snowden: “Absolutely not. Not at this point. No, absolutely not.”
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