President Obama Should Pardon Edward Snowden Before Leaving Office (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Verge: Ever since Edward Snowden set in motion the most powerful public act of whistleblowing in U.S. history, he has been living in exile in Russia from the United States. An article in this week's New York Magazine looks at how Snowden may have a narrow window of opportunity where President Obama could pardon him before he leaves office. Presumably, once he leaves office, the chances of Snowden being pardoned by Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are miniscule. Obama has said nothing in the past few years to suggest he's interested in pardoning Snowden. Not only would it contradict his national security policy, but it will severely alienate the intelligence community for many years to come. With that said, anyone who values a free and secure internet believes pardoning Snowden would be the right thing to do. The Verge reports: "[Snowden] faces charges under the Espionage Act, which makes no distinction between delivering classified files to journalists and delivering the same files to a foreign power. For the first 80 years of its life, it was used almost entirely to prosecute spies. The president has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all president before him combined. His Justice Department has vastly expanded the scope of the law, turning it from a weapon against the nation's enemies to one that's pointed against its own citizens. The result will be less scrutiny of the nation's most powerful agencies, and fewer forces to keep them in check. With Snowden's push for clemency, the president has a chance to complicate that legacy and begin to undo it. It's the last chance we'll have."

Comments

Re:Why is Obama more like to pardon?

[rastos1]

a 29 year old decided that he knew better than the hundreds of elected officials that we the people appointed to make these sorts of decisions on our behalf.

He reported the problems to his superiors and was ignored. Are you suggesting he should go to a governor or a congressman? Like "hello, I'm a NSA analyst and I'd like to chat with you about NSA illegally spying on everyone in US. When and where would that suit you?"

he leaks EVERYTHING, to foreign media.

So he should have leaked only something? Greenwald is an American and they met in New York.

he runs away to a country that stands diametrically opposed to every human right he claims to champion.

There isn't a wide range of countries to choose from. He chose the country that respected his rights. Which, sadly, is not US.