Trump says he will pardon a 'very important' person on Tuesday

[August 18, 2020]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he would pardon a "very, very important" person on Tuesday, but added it would not be leaker Edward Snowden or former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

President Donald Trump walks on the tarmac before delivering remarks at Basler Flight Service in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, U.S., August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

"Doing a pardon tomorrow on someone who is very, very important," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

He declined to offer further details except to say it was not Flynn nor Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor now living in Russia who has been charged with leaking secret information.

On Saturday, Trump said he was considering a pardon for Snowden, who gave a trove of secret files in 2013 to news organizations that disclosed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA.

Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's then-ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. The U.S. Justice Department has sought to dismiss the case against Flynn following pressure from Trump and his allies.

Last month, Trump used his presidential power to commute the sentence of longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)

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