The US White House has formally declined a citizens’ petition to issue a pardon to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. “Snowden is not “running away from his actions” or ‘hid[ing] behind the cover of an authoritarian regime.’ Snowden is in Russian Federation because of the United States, which revoked his passport while he as transiting through there to Latin America”.
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“Instead of constructively addressing these issues, Mr. Snowden’s unsafe decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it”, the White House response reads. After conspicuous silence-the petition has 167,954 signatures, and all entries on the site with 100,000 or more are guaranteed a response-the administration finally posted an answer on Tuesday.
The White House said if Snowden’s main concern was the nation’s security, there’s a process he should follow.
Edward Snowden appeared at South By Southwest Monday via Google Hangouts-and seven proxies-to encourage the people who create devices and software to make user security a priority. During Obama’s presidency, seven other Americans have faced charges under the Espionage Act, more than all other administrations combined.
“The actual consequences of Snowden’s revelations have been an informed global debate that even the president acknowledges “we needed to have, ‘ two federal court decisions finding that the phone dragnet program [was] ‘unlawful” and ‘likely unconstitutional, ‘ and the first significant intelligence reform legislation in 30 years”. “Right now, he’s running away from the consequences of his actions”.
Snowden would like to return home to the United States, and former Attorney General Eric Holder has suggested that the Department of Justice might be open to a plea deal, Time reports.
The Obama administration is not going to pardon Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who went on the lam after disclosing thousands of classified documents to the media.
We live in a unsafe world. “We continue to face grave security threats like terrorism, cyber-attacks, and nuclear proliferation that our intelligence community must have all the lawful tools it needs to address”, she said.
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The comments are similar to those that all level of government officials have given in recent months about Snowden, who is now living in Russian Federation to avoid espionage charges in the U.S. that could keep him imprisoned for decades.
