Eric Holder believes America could strike a deal with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to see him return from exile in Russia to the United States.

The former Attorney General, who charged Snowden with three felony counts of espionage for leaking thousands of government papers to the press, told Yahoo News it is a 'possibility' as he acknowledged the case prompted a 'necessary debate' about secrecy.

His words are the most favorable to come from any senior official involved in the case.

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'It's possible': Eric Holder, former attorney general who charged Edward Snowden with espionage, believes there is 'certainly' room to strike a deal with the former NSA contractor to see him return from Russia

'I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with,' he told Yahoo, shortly after returning to Covington & Burling, a private legal firm in DC. 'I think the possibility exists.'

He added that 'we are in a different place as a result of the Snowden disclosures.'

He did not elaborate on the details of a potential plea deal. However, three sources close to Director of National Intelligence official Robert Litt told Yahoo options had been discussed.

One, the site described, would involve Snowden pleading guilty to one felony count and serve three-to-five years in prison in exchange for government cooperation.

Litt refused to comment, as did Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who told the site: 'This is an ongoing case so I am not going to get into specific details but I can say our position regarding bringing Edward Snowden back to the United States to face charges has not changed.'

Snowden's lawyer Ben Wizner said they would not accept a deal that involved a prison sentence, but praised Holder's comments.

'The former attorney general's recognition that Snowden's actions led to meaningful changes is welcome,' Wizner told the site.

'This is significant… I don't think we've seen this kind of respect from anybody at a Cabinet level before.'

It comes after Congress reformed the government's surveillance programs.

On June 30, a court ruled that the eavesdropping National Security Agency can temporarily resume its bulk collection of Americans' telephone records.

The program was rocked in May by an appeals court ruling that the USA Patriot Act had never authorized the NSA to collect Americans' phone records in bulk.

Snowden's lawyer Ben Wizner said they would not accept a deal that involved a prison sentence, but praised Holder's comments, which are the most favorable to come from a senior official in the Obama administration

A new law, called the Freedom Act, which substantially reformed and narrowed the bulk phone data program, was signed by U.S. President Barack Obama a day after the existing program lapsed on June 1.

The Freedom Act also allowed the existing surveillance program to continue for a six-month transition period, but it remained in legal limbo pending Monday's ruling by a judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

'In passing the USA Freedom Act, Congress clearly intended to end bulk data collection ... But what it took away with one hand, it gave back - for a limited time - with another,' wrote Michael Mosman, a judge on the surveillance court.

In his ruling, first reported by the New York Times, Mosman rejected the May ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that the Patriot Act had never authorized the NSA to collect Americans' phone records in bulk.

'Second Circuit rulings are not binding on the F.I.S.C. and this court respectfully disagrees with that court's analysis, especially in view of the intervening enactment of the U.S.A. Freedom Act,' he wrote.

The U.S. Justice Department welcomed the decision.

'We agree with the Court's conclusion that the program is lawful, and that in passing the USA Freedom Act, Congress provided for a 180 day transition period for the government to continue the existing collection program until the new mechanism of obtaining call detail records is implemented,' said Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle.

The NSA program collects and analyzes data about Americans' phone calls, such as the number dialed, and the time and length of the call, but not the calls' actual content.

The Freedom Act requires companies such as Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc, to collect and store telephone records the same way that they do now for billing purposes.