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Father to Snowden: Stay safe in Russia
07:01 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

NEW: Edward Snowden acted out of patriotism, his father tells The Washington Post

Report: Lon Snowden said he did not fly to Russia because he doubted he'd be able to speak to his son

Lon Snowden wants his son to stay in Moscow for now

He is 'not confident' his son would receive a fair trial in the U.S.

CNN  — 

The FBI planned to fly Edward Snowden’s father to Moscow to encourage the National Security Agency leaker to come home to the United States, his father told The Washington Post.

But Lon Snowden said he backed out, because it was not clear he would be able to speak to his son.

Interactive: Snowden’s options

“I said, ‘I want to be able to speak with my son. . . . Can you set up communications?’ And it was, ‘Well, we’re not sure,’ ” the father told the newspaper Tuesday. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, folks, I’m not going to sit on the tarmac to be an emotional tool for you.’”

Lon Snowden spoke to CNN on Monday and Tuesday, but did not bring up this incident.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Tuesday, the father said he wants the accused leaker to stay in Russia, until he is confident he can get a fair trial in the United States.

Snowden’s father: ‘I know my son. I know he loves his country

“I am not confident at all,” Lon Snowden said.

The multiple guilty verdicts handed to leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning on Tuesday increased his unease, although he says his son’s case is “completely different.”

“I think my son has exercised discretion in the information that he has shared,” he said.

Edward Snowden admires Manning, his father said.

“He’s an individual who took a stand.”

Snowden a patriot?

Edward Snowden, a former employee of a government contractor, leaked to the media that the NSA had secretly collected and stored millions of phone records from accounts in the United States. It also collected information from U.S. companies on the Internet activity of overseas residents, Snowden said.

Lawmakers in Washington have built a criminal case against him.

Snowden’s lawyer, Bruce Fein, who also appeared in the interview with Tapper, objected to the government’s intent to prosecute Snowden.

“The majority of the American people now have voiced grave concerns about the scope of that program. And it seems somewhat odd to be prosecuting somebody for disclosing government wrongdoing.”

Snowden – facts, fictions and fears

He said that Snowden had the courage to spark a conversation that President Barack Obama has called “urgent.”

Fein believes it would be impossible to find an “unpoisoned jury” to try his client given the heavy media coverage.

He lambasted Washington politicians for speaking of Snowden as if he were guilty, trampling on his right to be considered not guilty until proven otherwise.

Lon Snowden told the Post that his son grew up in a patriotic family. Many of his relatives had served in the military or police forces. Lon Snowden said he served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

His son acted out of patriotism, he said, knowing that he would suffer personally for his decision to protect Americans’ constitutional rights to privacy.

Lon Snowden told Tapper that he expects Obama to do the same.