For the first 12 days, the Obama administration’s effort to extradite government leaker Edward Snowden from Hong Kong was a by-the-book legal affair — overseen by the Justice Department and involving few if any diplomatic overtures, according to senior administration officials.

That legalistic approach has resulted in a political and public relations debacle. By the time U.S. officials had begun applying diplomatic pressure on Hong Kong and Chinese authorities last weekend, it was too late: Snowden had boarded a flight to Moscow in search of asylum…

Stephen I. Vladeck, an associate dean at American University’s Washington College of Law who studies national security law, said the administration made mistakes by just going “through the motions.”

“It should have been clear from the get-go that the government was going to need more than just a prima facie case for extradition here, but also the political and diplomatic cooperation of the Hong Kong — and, perhaps, Chinese — authorities,” Vladeck said.