"I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made," Eric Holder said on The Axe Files podcast hosted by David Axelrod, who is a former campaign strategist for President Barack Obama.

Nevertheless, Holder then stressed that Snowden must be punished for leaking classified documents, claiming the release"harmed American interests" and "put" agents "at risk."

"Now, I would say that doing what he did – and the way he did it – was inappropriate and illegal," he said.

This still marks a big shift in Holder's view if compared to the one he advocated as head of the justice department in 2013, when the documents were made public. Back then, he said that Snowden would need to plead guilty before US authorities would even have a conversation with him.