Sometimes a parent's sentimentality and love for their child blinds them to all else. It has been mentioned that a number of his family works for the governmen

Sometimes a parent's sentimentality and love for their child blinds them to all else. It has been mentioned that a number of his family works for the government in various capacities, so they could very well be of a slightly more authoritarian or trusting in authority than Snowden himself. Snowden seems willing enough to face the statutory punishment for his actual crimes, just not the trumped up politicised charges the Government seems to have in mind.