Edward Snowden has paperwork to leave airport, Russian state news agency says MOSCOW A Russian state news agency says former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was granted documents on Wednesday that will allow him to leave a Moscow airport where he has been holed up for more than a month. A Russian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking details of U.S. government intelligence programs, was expected to meet his lawyer at Sheremetyevo airport later on Wednesday after lodging a request for temporary asylum in Russia. Russian officials have so far declined comment. If the reports prove accurate, it would end a long saga for Snowden, who is believed to have been living in the Moscow airport's transit zone since June 23 after flying there from Hong Kong. It was in the Chinese protectorate that Snowden first publicly revealed details of the massive surveillance programs conducted by the NSA, for which Snowden was a contractor in Hawaii. Snowden has sought political asylum in dozens of countries, saying it would be impossible for him to receive a fair trial after leaking the sensitive intelligence information, and that he feared being submitted harsh pre-trial punishment like Bradley Manning, who leaked thousands of classified Pentagon and State Department documents a few years ago to WikiLeaks. The U.S. has already filed Espionage Act-related charges against Snowden.