US refuses to pardon Snowden: White House

The White House on Tuesday reiterated its refusal standing to pardon the government information leaker Edward Snowden. Instead, it says, the former contractor should return to the US and "accept the consequences of his actions," reports the Xinhua News Agency from Washington.

"He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers -- not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime," White House counterterrorism advisor Lisa Monaco said on Tuesday in response to a petition about Snowden on Tuesday.

"Right now, he's running away from the consequences of his actions," Monaco noted.

The petition to the White House was created in the summer of 2013, shortly after Snowden released his documents, and has more than 167,000 signatures.

Her comments are similar to those that all level of government officials have given in recent months about Snowden, who is currently living in Russia.

While the Obama administration was at one point discussing the possibility of leniency for Snowden, those talks appear to have dissolved.

"If he felt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience, then he should do what those who have taken issue with their own government do: Challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest, and accept the consequences of his actions," Monaco added.

On the other hand, a report by The Intercept read that Snowden didn’t actually disclose any classified information — news organisations including the Guardian, Washington Post, New York Times and The Intercept did the disclosing. And the Obama administration has yet to specify any “severe consequences” that can be independently confirmed, the report continued.