Pardon Me, I’m Edward Snowden by Alex Beam, Boston Globe
The release of Oliver Stone’s new movie “Snowden” has occasioned much caterwauling about a presidential pardon for young Edward. Snowden is the 33-year-old, ex-CIA contractor who spilled great gobs of National Security Agency secrets to the Washington Post and the London Guardian in 2013.
Snowden is facing charges of espionage and theft of government property, but he may never be tried. He is currently living in Russia, exiled in stateless limbo after the State Department revoked his passport.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and right-thinking people everywhere have called on President Obama to pardon Snowden before Inauguration Day, 2017.
Speaking by video link from his de facto Moscow prison, Snowden argued his case to a Guardian interviewer: “This isn’t about me, it’s about us,” he said. “Yes, there are laws on the books that say one thing, but perhaps this is why the pardon power exists — for the exceptions.”
That’s not really why the pardon power exists — it’s to correct judicial malfeasance, among other things — but never mind that. Why does Snowden get to pick which laws apply to him and which don’t? If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime…
Comments
Mark Stout, an intelligence historian @ John Hopkins, tweeted yesterday a commentary in response to thus Tweet: If you think Snowden should be pardoned you either haven't read about what he actually took (uninformed) or you're a walking joke.
Mark: #nopardonforsnowden ....Damage #Snowden fans did to public understanding of intelligence: led people to think it is only about hunting terrorists. If US should support freedom, #humanrights and prosperity, where does the info come from to enable such efforts? Intel