Edward Snowden did public work by urging changes to US mass surveillance programs, according to former US Attorney General Eric Holder.
Holder still believes that Snowden's decision to leak classified documents was improper and illegal, but now that he has been out of office for a year, his view has changed significantly.
"We can certainly disagree about how Snowden did what he did, but I think he actually did a public service job by increasing the conversation and encouraging the changes that we made," Holder said on CNN's The Axe Files.
Of course, the argument that the act was illegal and improper and on the other hand that it was a public work are not compatible with each other. Nevertheless, it is a big leap for Holder, who as Attorney General argued that the man should have pleaded guilty if he so badly wanted to talk to US authorities.
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Now Holden is also proposing a reduced sentence because Snowden's actions were helpful. "I think in deciding what the right sentence is, the judge should take into account the usefulness of the national conversation that was started," he said.
The former Attorney General, however, still believes that the man's actions harmed American interests and put agents at risk.
Snowden has previously offered to serve a prison sentence if he were allowed to return to the US, but the government has refused to talk to him. He also now believes he will not get a fair trial in the US.
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