Famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) whistle-blower Edward Snowden could soon experience a life of freedom in the United States under President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Cabinet members.

According to Fox News, both Tulsi Gabbard, nominated to be Trump's Director of National Intelligence, and Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz both co-sponsored legislation that would drop charges against Snowden. 

Gabbard and Gaetz both agree that Snowden shouldn't have been punished like he was for revealing information about classified surveillance programs.

Snowden shouldn't get his hopes up just yet, as both Gabbard and Gaetz have a ways to go before they wield the power necessary to make it happen, as they both are facing somewhat steeper odds at being confirmed by the Senate.

What's going on?

Fox News noted:

In 2013, Snowden was working as an IT contractor for the National Security Agency when he traveled to Hong Kong to meet with three journalists and transferred them thousands of pages of classified documents about the U.S. government’s surveillance of its citizens.

He then traveled to Russia and planned to head on to Ecuador, but federal authorities canceled his passport before he could get there — and indicted him for espionage.

Gabbard, during her 2020 presidential election run as a Democrat, promised that if she was elected she would make the necessary moves to have charges against Snowden dropped, and to protect people like him in the future.

"If it wasn’t for Snowden, the American people would never have learned the NSA was collecting phone records and spying on Americans," Gabbard said during a "Joe Rogan Experience" interview back then.

She added, "As president, I will protect whistle-blowers who expose threats to our freedom and liberty."

Gabbard and Gaetz both sponsored legislation at the time that would have dropped all charges against Snowden leveled against him by the U.S. government.

However, not everyone, especially the establishment types, believe Snowden should be let off the hook.

Pushback

Sue Gordon, deputy director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration, pushed back on Gabbard's insistence on freeing Snowden, claiming he "harmed America."

"Unauthorized disclosures of intelligence are always bad. Don’t go with the good or bad, any good outcome or whether he was right or wrong. He had no authority, and he had different paths, and he harmed America," Gordon said.

She added, "He not only harmed intelligence, he harmed our allies and partners, and he harmed our businesses by what it allowed China to assume about that. There is nothing justifiable about what he’s done. None. And so if they vacate it, what they’re basically saying is all those rules you follow in order to be able to serve America, they don’t matter anymore."

If either Gabbard or Gaetz, or both, are confirmed by the Senate, it'll be interesting to see if they come through on their vows to free Snowden. Only time will tell.