Snowden backers press Obama for pardon
before presidency ends
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[September 15, 2016]
By David Ingram
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three rights groups
launched a campaign on Wednesday to try to persuade President Barack
Obama to pardon former National Security Agency contractor Edward
Snowden on U.S. theft and espionage charges before Obama leaves office
in January.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Human
Rights Watch said the time was right to rally support for a pardon for
Snowden, who leaked documents about top-secret U.S. surveillance
programs to journalists in 2013, fled to Hong Kong and was granted
asylum in Russia. The ACLU provides legal representation for Snowden.
Speaking on Wednesday via video, Snowden told a news conference in New
York City that he was "comfortable with the decisions I made" but
whether or not he gets a presidential pardon is not up to him.
"I do not myself ask for a pardon and I never will," Snowden said.
Snowden said he could not receive a fair trial in the United States
because a law he was charged under, the 1917 Espionage Act, does not let
him explain to a jury his reasons for leaking.
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"This World War I-era law does not distinguish between those who freely
give critical information to journalists in the public interest or spies
who sell it to a foreign power for their own," said Snowden, who lives
in Moscow.
A pardon now may make sense for Obama, the groups said, because he may
be seeking to burnish his legacy and be able to act with less concern
for politics. Obama, a Democrat, will leave office at the end of his
second, four-year term on Jan. 20.
"Presidents normally take some of the most difficult actions of their
eight years in office in the final months," Anthony Romero, the ACLU's
executive director, told the news conference.
Snowden was charged by U.S. federal prosecutors in 2013 with theft of
government property, unauthorized communication of national defense
information and willful communication of classified communications
intelligence to an unauthorized person.
The campaign for a pardon includes a website, www.pardonsnowden.org,
that people can use to write to the White House, and the groups ran ads
in the Washington Post and Politico newspapers, saying Snowden exposed
unlawful programs and prompted reforms.
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![](../images/091516pics/news_J19.jpg)
Edward Snowden speaks via video link during a news conference in New
York City, U.S. September 14, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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The campaign coincides with the release of a film, titled "Snowden,"
directed by Oliver Stone.
It also comes at a time when U.S. authorities are investigating whether
hackers backed by Russian spy agencies have been interfering with the
U.S. presidential campaign by stealing and releasing documents and
emails principally to embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
U.S. officials have said they will not budge on their demand that
Snowden be prosecuted for stealing thousands of classified intelligence
documents, the release of which they say damaged national security.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday that Snowden is
charged with "serious crimes, and it's the policy of the administration
that Mr. Snowden should return to the United States and face those
charges."
The House of Representatives intelligence committee on Thursday was
scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting to vote on a report it has
prepared examining Snowden's background and activities. While most of
the report is expected to remain classified, a congressional official
said the panel will also vote on whether to publicly release an
unclassified summary.
(Reporting by David Ingram; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and
Jill Serjeant; Editing by Will Dunham)
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