On Friday, a German lawmaker who met with Edward Snowden in Moscow said that the former NSA worker wanted to testify in front of the U.S. Congress. Hans-Christian Stroebele also said that he advised Snowden to go before German lawmakers first, but that Snowden would rather go to the U.S. “He didn’t present himself as an enemy of America, quite the opposite,” Stroebele told reporters in Berlin.
Snowden would apparently consider going to Germany as long as he could be guaranteed safety and no chance of being deported to the United States. Stroebele brought a letter back to German authorities, in which Snowden says he is “looking forward to speaking” with leaders in Germany, but not until “the situation is resolved.” Also in the letter, Snowden said he was “heartened by the response to my act of political expression, in both the United States and beyond. Citizens around the world as well as high officials — including in the United States — have judged the revelation of an unaccountable system of pervasive surveillance to be a public service.”
Stroebele acknowledged that Snowden “is an important witness for Germany” in relation to the recent allegations of the U.S. spying on German leaders. However, Snowden’s attorney, Anatoly Kucherena, has said that there are no plans for his client to leave Moscow.
