Washington DC - Donald Trump's allies are reportedly urging the president-elect to consider pardoning whistleblower Edward Snowden during his incoming term.

According to The Washington Post, a number of MAGA loyalists in Trump's orbit have been pushing for Snowden, including former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who recently dropped out of the running to be Trump's attorney general.

"I advocated for a pardon for Mr. Snowden extensively," Gaetz told the Post earlier this week. "That did not give Mr. Trump any apprehension in his nominating me. I would have recommended that as attorney general.

"I have discussed the matter with others in and around the transition, and there seemed to be pretty broad support for a pardon," he added.

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Some of Trump's cabinet picks have publicly advocated for the same, including Secretary of Health nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who has suggested erecting a Washington monument in Snowden's honor – and national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard – who has advocated for the charges against him to be dropped for years.

Snowden even has the support of Trump's eldest son, Don Jr., and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who believes "Anyone who argues against his pardon is your enemy."

Back in 2013, Snowden leaked National Security Agency files to journalists, which revealed how the US spies on its citizens and the existence of a global monitoring program by the NSA.

He has since been hiding out in Russia, as he is wanted in the US on criminal charges.

While Snowden surrogates perceive him to be a hero – as they argue he exposed government corruption that the American people deserved to know of – a 2016 report from the House Intelligence Committee found that his actions caused "tremendous damage to national security," the full scope of which "remains unknown."

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Trump, who has suggested in the past that Snowden should be "executed" for what he did, had reportedly come very close to pardoning Snowden back in 2021 but decided against it at the last minute.

In a since-deleted tweet, Snowden lashed out and called Trump "a man who has never known a love he had not paid for," adding his supporters should "never forgive that this simpering creature failed to pardon truth-tellers in far more desperate circumstances."