1 million signatures collected in support of Snowden pardon

[bananas]

Source: The Hill

A group hoping to secure a presidential pardon for National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden delivered a petition with more than 1 million signatures to President Obama on Friday.

"Pardoning Snowden would show the world the U.S. cares (about) human rights at a time of great concern,” said Ben Wizner, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney working on behalf of Snowden, about the Pardon Snowden Campaign petition.

<snip>

“Remember, Snowden said systems we were building could be handed to a tyrant," he said.

"Luckily we listened, and passed significant surveillance reform – something administration officials have agreed was the right thing to do,” Wizner added.

Obama has argued that he cannot pardon Snowden until he is convicted of a crime, something Wizner describes as a dodge.

“The pardon power is absolute. Remember, Nixon was never convicted of anything, but pardoned by Ford,” he said.

<snip>

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/314221-org-delivers-11-million-signatures-in-support-of-snowden-pardon

---

Snowden deserves a full pardon, and a hero's welcome home.

Daniel Ellsberg: "Ed Snowden should be freed of the legal burden hanging over him. They should remove the indictment, pardon him if that’s the way to do it, so that he is no longer facing prison."

Bernie Sanders: "the interests of justice would be best served if our government granted him some form of clemency or a plea agreement that would spare him a long prison sentence or permanent exile."

Noam Chomsky: "President Obama should provide Edward Snowden with a form of clemency that would permit him to return home to the United States – and still more appropriately in my view, remove all threats of criminal investigation as well. Snowden should, in my opinion, be welcomed home with honors for his service to his country, and for his courage and integrity in the manner in which he performed this service."

Barry Eisler: "I wholeheartedly support a full presidential pardon for whistleblower Edward Snowden ... he deserves a Presidential Medal of Freedom."

[bananas]

1. www.pardonsnowden.org

https://www.pardonsnowden.org/

[pnwmom]

2. He's a traitor who downloaded US data and brought it to China and Russia.

And the people who signed that petition are as stupid as the ones who voted for DT.

He could have gone to Bernie Sanders or another trusted Senator with his information, or he could have gone to another country that doesn't extradite to the US. He decided to go to Russia and criticize the US from there.

http://lawnewz.com/uncategorized/snowden-is-no-hero-and-deserves-no-pardon-from-obama-or-trump/

An excerpt published Thursday in Newsweek of a new book due out this week called How America Lost Its Secrets: Snowden, the Man and the Theft, written by author Edward Jay Epstein, provides a great basis for why such a pardon should never even be on the table. The book provides mountains of new information about Snowden that Epstein says he gathered during his three years working on the project. As he notes, most of what the public knows about Snowden came from Snowden himself — or from friendly journalists and a Hollywood movie directed by Oliver Stone. Through his investigation, however, Epstein says he discovered the “Snowden” version told by Snowden is not exactly what happened.

This should not come as a surprise to those who have been skeptical of Snowden from day one.

SNIP

[Stand and Fight]

3. Agreed.

[George II]

14. And for all we know could have helped the Russians hack our election and elect Trump.

[Drahthaardogs]

15. Yes. No pardon!

NEVER

[Rorey]

18. Agree

I hope his ass rots in Russia. I am quite confident that President Obama isn't considering a pardon for him. I wouldn't be surprised to see trump do it, if he has time with all of the tweeting he seems to think he has to do.

[AgadorSparticus]

26. Completely agree! No wonder we have trumputin in the WH. People are crazy

[JHan]

27. Thanks for that link..

One thing to expose that the NSA spies on citizens, another to compromise our security apparatus by sharing sensitive documents with our enemies.

[JTFrog]

35. +1 nt

[stonecutter357]

4. traitores don't get a pardon.

[HoneyBadger]

5. I like the idea of him getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom

even if he is not pardoned, he is still a hero

[brush]

29. Not a hero. You're not keeping up. Here's a link showing Snowden and Greenwald's lies

http://www.wikileaks-forum.com/edward-snowden/469/the-fable-of-edward-snowden/35180/

[Auggie]

6. A Pipe Dream

[Coolest Ranger]

7. No

I won't sign it. He needs to man up and face the music. Manning deserves her pardon, he doesn't

[George II]

13. Yes, Manning was duped by Assange and Snowden

[orangecrush]

8. Trump will pardon him

When Putin gives,the order.

[WhiteTara]

9. I'm sure The OrangeAnus will pardon him

but I sure hope President Obama does not.

[Trust Buster]

10. Any Democrat who thinks that Snowden should be pardoned would look pretty silly criticizing

Trump and his unlawful dalliance with Russia IMO.

[George II]

12. Especially since Snowden may have given the Russians clues on how to hack our systems.

[kstewart33]

21. Bingo. nt

[George II]

11. Was there a petition calling for him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

[ismnotwasm]

16. Mine is NOT on it

[Sunlei]

17. I agree with Sanders plea agreement, some form of clem. we need him out of Russia & information

who got him those positions/jobs. return all the stolen files and who helped with Hong Kong run and Russia shelter.

[Alekzander]

19. True & maybe he could give us info on Trump & his Russian connections along with more info

on Trump & the Russian hacking of our election. Who knows?

[Sunlei]

22. not trump, Republicans' Russian and file stealing connections.

he's pre Republicans great white hope trump.

[pnwmom]

31. Return all the stolen files? He's already passed them on to China and Russia,

so I don't see the point of that.

[LiberalLovinLug]

34. Fake news has made a monster out of him for the gulible

Snowden revealed truth about massive civilian spying by the US government: TRUTH

Snowden passed on top secret security information to Russian and China: PARANOID RUMOUR BY AUTHORITARIAN MINDED OSTRICHES THAT WOULD RATHER NOT KNOW WHAT THE POWERS THAT BE ARE UP TO AND WANT HIS REVELATIONS DELEGITIMIZED.

I agree that he should be awarded the Medal of Freedom. What he did epitomizes what that medal should be all about. I know that won't happen as there are too many authority worshipers from both parties for that to happen. But I hope one day Americans will understand just how important what his whistleblowing did to make Americans aware.

I also wonder if it were a Trump appointed NSA department that overstepped its boundaries and a whistleblower revealed that, if we'd get as many paranoid authoritarians from the Democratic side demonizing him.

[pnwmom]

36. The gullible people are the ones who think he's being taken care of in Russia

even though he did NOT pass any top secret security information to them.

[LiberalLovinLug]

37. He was "taken care of" in Russia, even though he'd rather be somewhere else,

Mainly because he is an embarrassment and a thorn in the side to the US government as long as he is free. And Putin wanted to milk the false narrative that Russia is so moral that they frown on mass citizen surveillance. Any other conclusion means you watch too many movies.

[pnwmom]

39. He COULD have gone to another country that doesn't extradite.

Or he could have taken his downloads to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or another trusted Senator.

He CHOSE to go to Russia. Whether he made that choice because of Assange, as they claim, or he was already working for Russia, we don't know. And it doesn't really matter.

He and Assange are not heroes.

[Sunlei]

42. by the time he was in Hong Kong, passport was canceled. He could not fly out without passport,

except on the airline run by Russia, they allowed him to board that flight. He probably didn't know he would end up in Russia, but they knew he would.

The man got 'jobs' & file access! at the few facilities with lists of names, the deep contacts names in Russia, China, Iran, Iraq & other countries.

Thousands of files that had nothing to do with his whistleblowing about the patriot acts "over-reaching" use of the laws authority.

[pnwmom]

47. He didn't have to go to Hong Kong. He could have gone to Venezuela. n/t

[jmowreader]

41. Files can be copied

And probably WERE copied. If he brings back the media, that doesn't mean the Russians don't have a full set of them.

[kstewart33]

20. When pigs fly.

Snowden released information that compromised intelligence personnel in Russia and who knows where else. He is directly responsible for their deaths/disappearance and for the weakening of our national security.

There is plenty to criticize about the CIA especially in its past, but there are people who put themselves at great risk for our country. Every day, all the time, with no thanks because their identity must be hidden to protect our national security.

He is no hero to them nor to me.

[Sunlei]

23. I remember that woman Journalist who went in her car & grenade blew-up in her lap.

Putin wants to get rid of someone, he does.

[CanSocDem]

24. Americans prefer to be kept in the dark.

Life is much simpler and it conforms to the corporate model.



.

[brooklynite]

25. You noticed that Sanders and even Chomsky didn't call for a pardon right?

As a friend of Russia however, he should safely expect a pardon from Trump, shouldn't he?

[Renew Deal]

28. You can get more signatures for him to be prosecuted

[Cryptoad]

30. Comrade Snowden like Comrade Trump can kiss my ass!

I would not urinate on either if they were on fire!

[pnwmom]

32. Whatever Sanders thought 2 years ago, he's not saying it NOW.

New information has come to light since Sanders made the quote in the OP -- in 2014.

[MyNameGoesHere]

33. Wow. I didnt think there were that

Many that support a lunatic. Oh wait we have tRump now.

[Hekate]

38. Snowden took national secrets to China & Russia. At best he is a fool.

I'm sorry for his troubles and all, but he was a useful idiot for Putin and Xi Jinping. He may be unhappy living in Russia on sufferance, but he is alive.

I'll reassess if Obama bites on this. But I'm not signing any petitions.

[joshcryer]

45. I feel for him because Trump has called for his execution.

And Putin and Trump are about to become best buds.

Hell, Snowden may be handed over as soon as Trump lands in Russia to have his talk.

The guy needs to be pardoned. He, like Manning, did what he thought was the right thing.

But he doesn't deserve life in prison, or worse, execution, for doing it. If anything it showed the utter failure of the US intel apparatus.

[hrmjustin]

40. Snowden is a traitor!

No hero!

[joshcryer]

44. Snoden made a mistake.

But he is no traitor.

That term belongs to Greenwald, the profiteer who exploited Snowden's good intentions.

[hrmjustin]

46. Sorry but the mistake he made is treason.

Whatever his motives he committed the crime of treason which makes him a traitor.

[joshcryer]

43. He needs it. Badly. Trump will have the man executed.

I'm dead serious.

Soon as he gets into office he'll get Putin to hand him over.

Only a matter of time.