Beside the media pushing for Edward Snowden to be given clemency in the United States, no one in the U.S. government claims to have even given the idea of lessening his prosecution any thought, according to the Associated Press.
Since Snowden first released the documents to three different people in June, his leaks of NSA spying have been the biggest "theft of secrets" in U.S. history, according to the AP.
The Justice Department has categorized his charges into three sections: theft of government property; under the Espionage Act, the unauthorized communication of national defense information; and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.
Snowden's only hope seems to be the use of "graymail" which is the threat to release more information during the trial in order to prevent further prosecution, national security lawyer Mark Zaid said, according to the AP.
Zaid said the use of graymail could force prosecutors to drop many of the hearings with Snowden and would allow Snowden to be seen as a "whistleblower" and make his argument that the "government is trying to hide misdeeds from the public," according to the AP.
"He would no doubt bring First Amendment defenses to what he did, emphasizing the public interest in his disclosures and the democratic values that he served," David Pozen, a Columbia Law School professor and a former legal adviser at the State Department, told the AP. "There's been no case quite like it."
The Justice Department has not let the fact that prosecuting Snowden could lead to the release of more secret information on government spying activities, the AP reported.
Attorney General Eric Holder says he "has not warmed to calls for clemency" for Snowden and Justice Department spokesman Andrew Ames released a statement last week stating there has been no change in intent to prosecute the former NSA systems analysts, according to the AP.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden agrees and said Snowden "should be returned to the U.S. as soon as possible, where he will be accorded full due process and protections," the AP reported.
"There's been no change in our position: Mr. Snowden is accused of leaking classified information and faces felony charges here in the United States," Hayden said, according to the AP.
Another official, former NSA general counsel, Stewart Baker, reinstated that the issue of clemency for Snowden "has been more of a media idea than something that is being seriously debated inside the government," the AP reported.
"I haven't talked to anyone in government who considers this a possibility," Baker added.
Ben Wizner, Snowden's attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said he is almost certain the federal government would not allow Snowden's argument for releasing the information on moral grounds to be heard by the jury, the AP reported.
"The Justice Department has successfully barred defendants in leaks prosecutions from mounting any kind of public interest defense by using the Espionage Act," Wizner told the AP.
"The government doesn't have to prove that the disclosures were harmful to the country. The defendant can't defend himself on basis that documents shouldn't have been classified ... and lower courts have upheld that," Wizner added, according to the AP. "That's why Edward Snowden is not taking his chances in a federal court. He wouldn't be able to explain himself."
