To take your analogy and apply it more accurately:
Can you imagine one of your customers permitting a developer to walk away with the entire code repository that demonstrates massive violations of US law and internal strategy docs about how they intend to violate those laws without shutting him up permanently?
Essentially one documents out of thousand upon thousands really exposed an illegal program (phone meta-data), and even that was done under a good faith legal theory. It took several court cases to find it was against the law. If he just released that FISA order, it would still be illegal, but there would at least by a good argument to not prosecute
He released tons of information about stuff that nobody would credibly think was illegal. Instead he released stuff that exposed spying on foreign countries, the raison d'être of the NSA, and he did it because he was ideologically against spyign. And that's why the DOJ has to go after him.
The U.S. Department of Justice's reason for pursuing Snowden is because he perpetrated the largest intelligence leak in U.S. history. Speaking out against the government, which isn't a crime in the U.S., is not sufficient for being arrested.
Can you imagine one of your customers permitting a developer to walk away with their entire code repository and internal strategy docs, without calling the police?
Speaking against the government alone isn't a crime. It happens daily across many venues. Hell, I've got folks on my Facebook feed practically plotting to overthrow the government over the Oregon/Bundy controversy.