Snowden's Dad In Russia: 'I Am Simply Thankful My Son Is Safe And Free'

The father of former NSA analyst Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow Thursday with the intention of seeing his son, who has been living in Russia since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23.

Lon Snowden said that he hoped to learn about his son's circumstances and discuss legal options, adding that he hopes he will have an opportunity to see his son.

Some key quotes:

• "I've had no direct contact with my son."
• "Edward Snowden is not leaking information: He is a whistleblower. He passed along information ... to responsible journalists."
• "I'm not sure my son will be returning to the U.S. That's his decision."

He ended by saying: "I am simply thankful that my son is safe and free."

The level of freedom Edward Snowden enjoys is a matter of debate.

Earlier this week he was seen buying groceries at an undisclosed location. But Kucherena, who works for Russian intelligence services, said last month that he wa Snowden's "only link with the outside world at the moment."

He added that "the danger level is very high" because the former CIA technician's "former colleagues could try to use the arrival of the parents to track down his location."

Snowden's expertise is certainly valuable, which is why New Republic senior editor Julia Ioffe wrote that the NSA-trained hacker would "likely be getting constant visits from the SVR (the Russian NSA) to mine the knowledge he carries in his brain."

It will be interesting to see if Lon Snowden gets to see his son.

Here's his arrival: