NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s father, Lon Snowden, has spoken out.

And let’s just say he’s not too happy with the US government.

Lon said the FBI denied his request to speak to his son. The government agency has instead pressured him to go to Moscow in person to lure his son back to America.

Edward is currently stuck in a Moscow airport while he seeks asylum in Russia.

Lon told the Washington Post, “I was asked if I would consider flying to Moscow. And I said, ‘Yes, but however, I want to know what the objective is and I want to be able to speak to my son to see if there is value, because I’m not going to fly to Moscow to sit on the tarmac to be an emotional tool for you, for the government.'”

The whistleblower’s father, a former US Coast Guard, fully backs his son. He insisted that Edward is “wholesome,” “patriotic,” and “brilliant.”

Lon called the US press surrounding his son’s actions “propaganda” and said the US government has been “amateurish” trying to handle the situation. He thinks his son is smart not to come back to America. “Where at this point, unless someone’s been living in a cave without a TV, can my son get a fair trial?” he asked.

As reported by the Daily Mail, “Snowden Jr began working in intelligence in 2003, he told the reporter, under the Bush administration; he saw how things evolved, he told the reporter. With the arrival of the Obama administration he hoped that things would change, but Snowden Sr said rather than getting better, things got worse.”

Lon summed it all up best when he said, “[Edward] has chosen to release information at great peril to himself, to expose that people’s constitutional rights are being violated by the government.” 

He is right.

If you care about government overreach, thank Snowden regardless of where he ends up. Because at the end of the day, there is no Snowden “story” — the only thing that really matters is what government is doing to citizens.