Edward Snowden performed a "public service" by triggering a national debate about secret domestic surveillance programmes, a former US Attorney General said.
In a podcast released on Monday, Eric Holder said the former National Security Agency contractor should still return to the US to face trial.
Snowden leaked classified details in 2013 of the US government's surveillance of its citizens before fleeing the country.
He now lives in Russia and faces charges that could mean up to 30 years in prison if he returns to the US.
In an interview with CNN, Mr Holder said that Snowden had become concerned that domestic spying programmes were not providing a "substantial" return of useful intelligence.
He said: "We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate we engaged in and by the changes that we made.
"Now, I would say doing what he did in the way he did it was inappropriate and illegal."
Mr Holder, who was Attorney General between 2009 and 2015, said the leaks harmed US interests and put intelligence assets at risk.
He added: "He's broken the law. In my view, he needs to get lawyers, come on back and decide what he wants to do - go to trial try to cut a deal.
"But in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, a judge could take into account the usefulness of having that national debate."
Snowden has repeatedly said he would be willing to return to the US if the federal government provides a fair trial.
But he says that under federal espionage laws he would not be allowed to present a whistleblower defence, where he would argue in court that he acted in the public interest.
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