The White House and the leaders of the intelligence committee in Congress are rejecting National Security Agency-contractor Edward Snowden's plea for clemency.
"Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday about the former systems-analyst-turned-fugitive who has temporary asylum in Russia.
"He should return to the US and face justice," Pfeiffer said, adding when pressed that no offers for clemency were being discussed.
Snowden made the plea in a letter given to a German politician and released Friday. In his one-page typed letter, he asks for clemency for charges over allegedly leaking classified information about the NSA to the news media. "''Speaking the truth is not a crime," Snowden wrote.
Snowden's revelations, including allegations that the US has eavesdropped on allies including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have led to calls by allies to cease such spying, and moves by Congress to overhaul US surveillance laws and curb the agency's powers.
But head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said if Snowden had been a true whistle-blower, he could have reported it to her committee privately.
"That didn't happen, and now he's done this enormous disservice to our country," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "I think the answer is no clemency."
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, called clemency for Snowden a "terrible idea."
"He needs to come back and own up," said Rogers, R-Mich. "If he believes there's vulnerabilities in the systems he'd like to disclose, you don't do it by committing a crime that actually puts soldiers' lives at risk in places like Afghanistan."
Rogers contended that Snowden's revelations had caused three terrorist organizations to change how they communicate.
Both lawmakers addressed word that President Barack Obama did not realize Merkel's personal phone was being tapped.
Rogers implied that he didn't believe the president, or European leaders who claimed they were shocked by Snowden's allegations.
"I think there's going to be some best actor awards coming out of the White House this year and best supporting actor awards coming out of the European Union," he said "Some notion that ... some people just didn't have an understanding about how we collect information to protect the United States to me is wrong."
Feinstein said she didn't know what the president knew, but said she intended to conduct a review of all intelligence programs to see if they were going too far.
"Where allies are close, tapping private phones of theirs ... has much more political liability than probably intelligence viability," she said.
Feinstein and Rogers have taken grief for defending the NSA. Feinstein's committee produced a bill last week that she says increases congressional oversight and limits some NSA powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Privacy advocates say the measure codifies the agency's rights to scoop up millions of American's telephone records.
Former NSA and CIA director Mike Hayden said it was possible Obama did not know about the alleged Merkel phone tapping.
But he said it was "impossible" that Obama's top staffers were unaware. "The fact that they didn't rush in to tell the president this was going on points out what I think is a fundamental fact: This wasn't exceptional. This is what we were expected to do."
Hayden's defense of the president comes days after he reportedly criticized the White House's handling of NSA revelations, when a former Democratic political operative tweeted snatches of Hayden's phone conversation, overheard on an Amtrak train.
Pfeiffer appeared on ABC's "This Week," while Rogers, Feinstein and Hayden were interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation."
美国国家安全局（NSA）前雇员爱德华·斯诺登日前发表公开信，寻求国际社会支持，以说服美国撤销对其控诉。据英国广播公司报道，美国政府11月3日明确回绝了斯诺登的要求，强调对其“绝不宽恕”。
今年6月初，斯诺登将美国国安局“棱镜”大规模监控项目公之于众。而后，美国政府对其提出从事间谍活动、窃取政府财产等三项指控。今年8月，斯诺登获得俄罗斯当局临时庇护，至少能够在俄避难至2014年7月31日。
成为俄罗斯临时难民后，斯诺登一直深居简出、行事低调。然而上周，他却在莫斯科与德国国会议员汉斯-克里斯蒂安·施特勒贝勒会面，并委托施特勒贝勒捎去一封写给德国总理默克尔、德国议会和德国联邦检察官的公开信。
他在信中称美国国安局（NSA）和英国政府通讯总部（GCHQ）非法从事了大量监听行为，是“最可耻的罪犯”。
“全世界在短时间内了解到了这些情报机构不负责任的行为，”斯诺登在信中说，“其中NSA和GCHQ犯下了最严重的罪行，至少目前公开的秘密文件证明如此。我们不能忘记大规模监视已经是一个全球问题，它需要全球性的解决方案。”
“讲出真相不是犯罪。”斯诺登在信中强调，美国政府控告其间谍罪是在“迫害”他，希望国际社会向美施压、令美方撤销指控。
美国白宫3日对此作出回应。“斯诺登的行为违反了美国法律，他应该回到美国接受司法审判。”白宫顾问丹·法伊弗说，对斯诺登予以宽大处理不在美方的讨论范围之内。
美国国会参议院情报委员会主席、民主党参议员戴安娜·范斯坦和众议院情报委员会主席、 共和党众议员迈克·罗杰斯对白宫的立场表示支持。范斯坦称，如果斯诺登真是揭发检举的话，他应当私下里向参议院情报委员会检举国安局的不当做法，但他没有 选择这么做，“我们会接见他，也会认真调查他提供的信息。可是，上述情况没有发生。现实是，他对我们的国家造成了巨大的伤害，对此，我们给出的答案是‘不 会宽恕’”。