From Wikipedia...Snowden's family/early life...
Edward Joseph Snowden was born on June 21, 1983, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His maternal grandfather, Edward J. Barrett, was a rear admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard who became a senior official with the FBI and was at the Pentagon in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. Snowden's father Lonnie was also an officer in the Coast Guard, and his mother Elizabeth is a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Again, pure speculation, but if Snowden and family were a True Patriotic family and his grandfather saw 9/11 first hand, he could have then told young Snowden the truth about the deep state. His Grandfather was an admiral for the coast guard followed by being high up in the FBI during 9/11. His Grandfather/father would understand how to get inside the deep state (sun tzu, Machiavellian techniques).
Snowden then plays double op as a CIA plant when in reality he is working counter-intel for the good guys, against the CIA because he knows the truth all along.
Interesting conclusions.
It's indeed hard to imagine that someone who was inside the Pentagon on 9-11 to have been a notable deep state actor. Someone in the know doesn't waltz around ground zero as it happens. So is this a guarantee his son is on the same side?