NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, wife Lindsay Mills welcome first child

Edward Snowden is a dad.

The former national security contractor who fled to Russia after leaking classified documents from the U.S. government has welcomed his first child, he and his wife announced on social media over the weekend.

“The greatest gift is the love we share,” he said in a tweet featuring a photo of the couple kissing while holding the newborn. The baby’s face was covered with an emoji — for privacy reasons, apparently.

Snowden’s wife, American acrobat Lindsay Mills, shared the same photo Friday on Instagram.

In this file image made from video and released by WikiLeaks, former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden speaks in Moscow. (Uncredited/)

“Happy Holidays from our newly expanded family,” she wrote in the caption.

The news comes weeks after the couple applied for Russian citizenship in a bid to keep the fam together.

Snowden, 37, was granted permanent residency in the country just two months ago. He’s been living in exile since 2013, when he leaked a trove of secret files revealing widespread surveillance programs by the U.S. National Security Agency.

“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son,” he said in a series of tweets announcing his intention to get a Russian passport.

“That is why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship,” he wrote. “Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love — including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited.”

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Snowden said he would return to the U.S. when he’s sure he can get a fair trial.

President Trump said in the summer that he was considering pardoning the whistleblower. Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Matt Gaetz are reportedly trying to convince Trump to go ahead with the controversial pardon before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next month, arguing that Snowden has been unfairly prosecuted.