MOSCOW (TIP): Edward Snowden who had not been in news for quite some time, burst back into the limelight Thursday, October 10 after four whistleblowing advocates from the United States reported meeting him to give him an award, and after his father arrived for the first time since his son received asylum. Through it all, the fugitive remained hidden, said a report in The Washington Post. The four activists, who said they met him Wednesday, gave Snowden a truth-telling award on behalf of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, an organization of former national security officials. They ridiculed U.S. government assertions that Snowden has caused grave damage to national security. The United States has charged Snowden under the Espionage Act for revealing secrets he acquired as a contractor for the National Security Agency. “Integrity must trump blind loyalty,” countered Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent who was at the meeting, Snowden’s first with visitors.

The four Americans told their story Thursday in a 15-minute program on the RT channel, which is financed by the Kremlin and broadcasts its point of view. Snowden’s father, Lon, met reporters in the company of Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden’s Kremlin-connected lawyer, and sped from the airport to an appearance on the main Russian television channel, also controlled by the Kremlin. “I’m Mr. Kucherena’s guest,” Lon Snowden said, “and I’m very thankful for his hospitality, and I’m going to follow Mr. Kucherena’s advice and that will determine where my day leads.” Lon Snowden acknowledged that Julian Assange and anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks had helped arrange his travel here, and the four Americans said Sarah Harrison, an Assange aide, remained with Snowden in refuge. Kucherena declined to reveal any details about a meeting between father and son, saying security concerns were paramount and suggesting the United States might somehow take action if it knew Edward Snowden’s whereabouts.

“We need to understand he is America’s most wanted man,” the lawyer said. The Sam Adams award was announced in July but presented in person Wednesday, honoring Snowden as a whistleblower, a description the United States describes as wrong. U.S. officials contend that whistleblowers reveal information after efforts to go through official channels are ignored. Snowden, they say, made no such efforts before leaking secrets, forfeiting whistleblower protections. Thomas Drake, a former NSA executive who became a critic of the agency, praised Snowden for speaking truth to power. “Russia, to its credit, recognized international law and granted him asylum,” he said, asserting that U.S. officials drove Snowden into Russia’s arms by making him stateless. The United States points out that Snowden remains a citizen even though his passport was revoked and that he should return home to answer the charges against him. “This is an extraordinary person,” said Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst. “He’s convinced what he did was right.” “I thought he looked great,” said Jesselyn Radack, who once accused the FBI of ethics violations and now defends whistleblowers for the Government Accountability Project.

She said the United States has presented no evidence that Snowden harmed national security and was acting vengefully. “We weren’t worried about coming into your country,” she told a Russian TV host. “We’re worried about getting back into ours.” Rowley, who has testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about problems facing the agency and the broader intelligence community, said the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had taught Americans that national security was harmed when agencies failed to share information with one another and the public. “He’s remarkably centered,” she said of Snowden. Snowden, they said, has no regrets about what he did. He has been on the run since May, leaving his home in Hawaii and turning up in Hong Kong, then fleeing to Moscow on June 23, spending five weeks hiding in the airport where his father arrived Thursday. “I’ve had no direct contact with my son despite previous reports,” Lon Snowden told reporters gathered outside the airport. “If the opportunity presents itself, I certainly hope I’ll be able to meet my son.” Kucherena told reporters that the son was running out of money.

“What he really needs to do today is find a job and I hope he can do that in the nearest future,” he said. “He could get a job in IT or maybe human rights. But we haven’t decided yet.” He said it was natural that Snowden has not been seen. “This is because he is being persecuted by a huge power, the U.S. government,” he said. “This anger persists, and we understand this very well.” Speculation has been rife about why he has remained in Russia. Authorities here say he could not travel onward because the United States revoked his passport, although Russia could have provided him with travel documents if it had so desired. “I’m here to learn more about my son’s situation,” Lon Snowden said, “and I’m thankful, extremely thankful, to the Russian people, President Vladimir Putin and Mr. Kucherena and his staff for their help in keeping my son safe and secure.” He said he doubted his son would return to the United States but said it was up to him. “I’m his father,” he said. “I love my son.”