Snowden might be officially pardoned before Obama leaves office

[AlTech]

Edward Snowden, the man who leaked out information about the NSA and went on the run for over a year due to the Americans calling him a traitor, may get officially pardoned before Obama leaves his office as the president of the United States.

 

Quote

 

 

For the last three years, one month, and seven days, Edward Snowden has been living in exile from the United States. On May 20th, 2013, he boarded a flight from Hawaii to Hong Kong after setting in motion the most powerful public act of whistleblowing in US history. In the months that followed, the public learned about programs collecting data on every phone call in the United States, attacking private networks run by Google and Yahoo, and hacking into the web’s advertising networks to turn them into tools of surveillance. In the weeks that followed, Snowden left Hong Kong for Russia, fleeing forced extradition by the US and its allies. He's remained there ever since.

But in the months ahead, there will be a unique chance to change that. An article in this week’s New York Magazine looks at Snowden’s life in exile and comes away with a unique insight into Snowden’s clemency plan. As Snowden’s central counsel, the ACLU’s Ben Wizner, puts it: "We’re going to make a very strong case between now and the end of this administration that this is one of those rare cases for which the pardon power exists."

 

The implicit point is that if Snowden is going to come home, his best chance is a presidential pardon, which is unlikely to come from Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. The final days of Obama’s final term are the best chance Snowden has, which gives Wizner and his team a little more than six months to make their case.

Like many such campaigns, it’s a long shot. President Obama has not said anything over the past three years to suggest he’s interested in pardoning Snowden, and it would be a significant break from his national security policy thus far. It would also severely alienate the intelligence community for years to come.

But there’s something more important than political blowback. Pardoning Snowden is the right thing to do, and if you care about a free and secure internet, you should support it. Snowden risked his life to perform one of the most pivotal public disclosures of our time, shedding light on surveillance systems that have grown far beyond the reach of democratic accountability. The documents he published — the source of his crime — have brought about profound changes in the way we build technology and communicate online. His continued exile is shameful, and ending it is a unique chance to reclaim the legacy of a president who has often failed to live up to his own promises of transparency.

 

 

Yeah there's no way Trump or Clinton would ever agree to this. In fact, they'd probably go after him and burn him on a stake for this. Obama has to be the one to do this.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/27/12040196/president-obama-pardon-edward-snowden-free

[d0nsen]

Where is this a might be? Its an opinion piece, a should-be.

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, d0nsen said:

Where is this a might be? Its an opinion piece, a should-be.

This is a "Might". like seriously. I know this is kind of vague but it is possible that this could happen.

 

It's like saying "tomorrow I might eat Bacon for breakfast". It's entirely possible that I could eat bacon for breakfast or pancakes or toast.

 

The outcome has a higher than 0% chance of happening.

[Trixanity]

I hope it happens but I doubt it. And even if he was pardoned, I doubt he could ever return to the US anyway. He would probably be arrested in secret despite a pardon being given (assuming they could keep it from the public) and even if that was not the case, he would probably need security 24/7 to prevent assassination by "patriots".

[d0nsen]

Might would be "sources from obamas inner circle report possible pardon if snowden blabla". This is someone saying someone should do something. FWIW, I also sincerely hope this poor man can finally get his ass out in the sun again.

[exyia]

This isn't news........this is literally two completely separate details and some "journalist" vaguely connecting said points and making claims about what "could" happen as if he just made a discovery...

[Real_PhillBert]

HAHAHA this is beyond wishful thinking.

 

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-administration-no-pardon-edward-snowden

 

Nothing has changed from the last time Obama rejected the idea of a Pardon for Snowden. Obama does not hold Snowden in high regard...

[CommandMan7]

help him obama-wan kenobi, you're his only hope.

[Rune]

I might be an astronaut someday.

Or I might not.

Might is a useless word.

[DXMember]

how the hell do you come from "Obama is the last chance for Snowden to be allowed back into US without going to jail" to "Snowden probly be officially pardoned"???

[Yog]

6 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

This is a "Might". like seriously. I know this is kind of vague but it is possible that this could happen.

 

It's like saying "tomorrow I might eat Bacon for breakfast". It's entirely possible that I could eat bacon for breakfast or pancakes or toast.

 

The outcome has a higher than 0% chance of happening.

Sure, but you're presenting this as news. Presenting this as news and then saying "might" indicates that something in this article gives some new information that would indicate Obama is leaning towards a pardon...but, as stated, it's just an opinion piece, there's no information relayed and it's not actually news. You might as well have left out the article and given your own reasoning why it should happen and then say it might happen. Or maybe I'll write an article stating why Obama should join a nomadic team of cyberneticists and become the first cyborg president so you can quote it and say it might happen.

 

[Tech_Dreamer]

Pardon Snowden..

 

Dat rhyme Doe

[BuckGup]

Yeah pardon as in not shoot you on site but bring you back and still do 30 years. Or they could be all cocky about and deny everything and bringing him back makes them look like the good guys

[bcredeur97]

I have a feeling even if they "officially" pardoned him they would find a way to kill him and then they would "justify" it. Snowden should just do the smart thing and never come back. Not worth the risk.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Obama's not pardoning Snowden, get your heads out of your asses. Captain Drone Attack is going to have the back of someone who showed the evil shit we did in the middle east to the entire world? If you believe that I'd like to direct you to the SLI 1080 Ti I have for sale.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Oops, I was thinking Bradley Manning. Snowden exposed the evil shit our government does at home. He has about as much chance of a pardon as I do of skeeting all over Kate Upton's face tonight.

[Trixanity]

2 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Oops, I was thinking Bradley Manning. Snowden exposed the evil shit our government does at home. He has about as much chance of a pardon as I do of skeeting all over Kate Upton's face tonight.

May your dreams come true. Alas, both men are probably more likely to receive a pardon and a medal than your dream of decorating Kate Upton. But damn it, I don't want to take a man's dreams away. You go get 'em, pupper!

[SurvivorNVL]

After what the Obama administration has done both for privacy, personal freedom, their and Clinton's push for attaining all of Kim Dotcom's assets, as well as trying to get Assange - this would never happen.  

[Albatross]

I doubt Obama will allow this to happen after everything he allowed to happen under his watch and then blatantly tells the public never happened/exists.