Former Attorney General Eric Holder said the national debate launched by NSA leaker Edward Snowden should be factored into any eventual sentence he's given. | AP Photo Eric Holder: Snowden performed a 'public service'

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden performed a public service when he leaked classified information and launched a public debate about government surveillance techniques, former Attorney General Eric Holder said in a recent interview.

But that doesn’t mean Holder thinks Snowden should get away with it.


In an appearance on former Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod’s podcast, Holder said Snowden’s 2013 leaks “harmed American interests” but that the light he shone on controversial government practices could mitigate some of the damage done.

"I know there are ways in which certain of our agents were put at risk, relationships with other countries were harmed, our ability to keep the American people safe was compromised,” Holder told Axelrod. “There were all kinds of re-dos that had to be put in place as a result of what he did, and while those things were being done we were blind in certain really critical areas. So what he did was not without consequence."

“He's broken the law in my view. He needs to get lawyers, come on back, and decide, see what he wants to do: Go to trial, try to cut a deal. I think there has to be a consequence for what he has done,” Holder continued. "I think in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national debate."

Appearing from Russia via videoconference at a University of Chicago event earlier this month, Snowden reiterated his willingness to return to the U.S., but only if he could be guaranteed a “fair trial.”

“If I had access to public interest defenses and other things like that, I would want to come home and make my case to the jury," Snowden said. "But, as I think you're quite familiar, the Espionage Act does not permit a public interest defense. You're not allowed to speak the word 'whistleblower' at trial."

Snowden took note of Holder's comments on him, posting a link to the podcast via his Twitter account.

Former US Attorney General @EricHolder spoke about #NSA's mass surveillance with @DavidAxelrod. In his own words: https://t.co/HSrlRCD5X8 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 30, 2016

Asked later in the podcast what he thought of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Holder criticized the tone of the Republican nominee’s rhetoric.

"The fact that he questioned the legitimacy of President Obama by questioning where he was born, what he's said about Mexicans,” Holder said. “I think there's a race-based component to his campaign. I think he appeals too often to the worst side of us as Americans."