Eric Holder Says DoJ Could Strike Deal With Snowden; Current AG Takes Hard Line

cold fjord writes with the report at Yahoo that Former Attorney General Eric Holder said today that a "possibility exists" for the Justice Department to cut a deal with ... Edward Snowden that would allow him to return to the United States ... Holder said "we are in a different place as a result of the Snowden disclosures" and that "his actions spurred a necessary debate" that prompted President Obama and Congress to change policies ... "I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with. I think the possibility exists." A representative of current Attorney General Loretta Lynch, though, said that there has been no change in the government's position ("This is an ongoing case so I am not going to get into specific details but I can say our position regarding bringing Edward Snowden back to the United States to face charges has not changed."), Holder's musings aside. As the article points out, too, "any suggestion of leniency toward Snowden would likely run into strong political opposition in Congress as well as fierce resistance from hard-liners in the intelligence community."

Comments

Re:Case of "voce populo" while out of office?

[TWX]

Or, since Holder has no official position, he's a good way of testing the waters where if the reaction to his statements is not good, they don't have to honor them or even acknowledge them.

Re:What kind of "deal" - he has nothing to offer?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's funny how the "hero" part is backed by now undeniable evidence, while the evidence for the "traitor" part seems to be more hypothetical and imaginary?

They're only pretending to have changed anything

[Cafe Alpha]

because of Snowden. They didn't stop collecting bulk data, they just changed the legal ownership of that data which has no effect on anyone's rights. It's all technical changes.

Also, if I were Snowden I'd consider staying away no matter what he's offered. Corrupt Russian intelligence doesn't have the MOTIVE to off him that American leaders do.

Re:FTFY

[Totenglocke]

Depends on the situation. If they decide to make themselves the government, definitely not. If they decide to actually honor their oath to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic, then it could turn out quite well. What do you find wrong with them demanding that politicians who violate the Constitution step down or be removed from office? How is that any different from a politician being removed from office for say committing murder or rape? The only "issue" is that it would be most of the politicians going to jail - but again, given how poorly they've run this country for almost a century and how low their approval ratings are, that's not a bad thing either.