by David Lawler, washington
Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked thousands of highly classified documents which revealed the scale of US and British surveillance, has made an 11th hour pitch to Barack Obama to grant him a presidential pardon before leaving office.
Snowden, whose disclosures included the revelation that the US National Security Agency was collecting "metadata" on Americans' phone calls, is living in exile in Moscow, and would face up to 30 years in prison for alleged violations of the Espionage Act if he returned to the US.
Calling the leaks "vital" and beneficial, Mr Snowden said that even if he was legally guilty, he had not done anything morally wrong....
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