“Meanwhile, Snowden can’t apply for a Russian visa without a valid passport.”
You can’t be serious. If he applies for a Russian Visa, that the Russians would somehow feel constrained and foiled again,,,,simply by DC revoking his passport? Imagine someone requesting political asylum here. Would we even pause because their home government revoked the validity of their passport?
No way.
But Barry’s claiming Russia helped Snowden spy. If they granted him political asylum it would appear as if these spy allegations might be true. So it would be more foolish to grant him asylum while these charges are on file, but to return Snowden to the US would also appear as an admission of guilt too. So it’s best for him to remain in the transit section of the airport, perhaps for the rest of his life.