Snowden didn’t choose Russia as a destination. He left Hong Kong for Latin America and got stranded in Moscow when the U.S. revoked his passport mid-transit. He

Snowden didn’t choose Russia as a destination. He left Hong Kong for Latin America and got stranded in Moscow when the U.S. revoked his passport mid-transit. He spent weeks in the airport transit zone while seeking asylum from multiple countries; Russia gave him temporary asylum after that. “Manning up and facing trial” sounds fair in theory, but under the Espionage Act there’s no public-interest defense. He’d be barred from explaining motive or the public value of the disclosures, much of the case would be classified, and past national-security whistleblowers have faced severe penalties. That’s why he sought asylum.