Snowden Clemency Appeals to the US is Headed towards Rejection

Edward Snowden’s plea for clemency in the United States appears headed to rejection.

A White House adviser, Dan Pfeiffer, during an appearance on the news program “This Week,” said no clemency offers were being discussed and that the NSA leaker should return to the U.S. to face charges.

"Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," Pfeiffer told Reuters. "He should return to the U.S. and face justice."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also appeared to be against granting any kind of concession to Snowden.

Rogers said clemency was a “terrible idea,” and Feinstein said Snowden should have reported his concerns through official channels.

She called his actions a "enormous disservice to our country."

The comments come in the wake of Snowden’s “manifesto” published in the German magazine Der Spiegel in which he pled for clemency, saying his revelations about the scope of NSA surveillance was spurring a valuable debate.

“Instead of causing damage, the usefulness of the new public knowledge for society is now clear because reforms to politics, supervision and laws are being suggested," he wrote.

Snowden remains in Russia, where he has been granted temporary asylum.