It doesn't matter whether Snowden has physical assets on his person. If he knows things that could be useful to Russian intelligence, which he certainly does, a

It doesn't matter whether Snowden has physical assets on his person. If he knows things that could be useful to Russian intelligence, which he certainly does, and if he can access things that would be useful to them, he has put himself in a position where they can make it extremely difficult to deny them whatever they want. You think they play beanbag? Snowden has said that if his goal was to do business with foreign intelligence, he could be "living in a palace petting a phoenix." If he really believed that his leverage as a defector was strong, then he's hopelessly naïf and who knows what other missteps he's making. I see his flight from China to Russia as an indication that this may be the case: He appears to have thought that he could play China against Russia and take the better deal. When China laughed in his face and sent him packing, he had to throw himself on the mercy of Russia. On the other hand, if he knew what really awaits defectors, he was making a disingenuous argument. In which case, how much of the rest of his story is like that?