A Government of the People, by Some Other People
A couple of years ago I signed a petition asking for a full pardon for Edward Snowden. Roughly two years behind schedule, The White House has responded to that petition. No surprise: TWH has declined to issue a pardon. The Intercept has summarized the errors and misleading statements in the response. Among their points:
Snowden is willing to accept the legal consequences of his acts — but, were he to come home under the current circumstances, [he] would be barred under the draconian Espionage Act from publicly arguing that his leaks were justified.Ars Technica expanded on this and other inaccuracies in The White House's response. With emphasis added:
Another one of Snowden’s US-based lawyers, Jesselyn Radack, reiterated to Ars that her client is not "running away."
"Snowden is in Russia because of the United States, which revoked his passport while he was transiting through there to Latin America," she said. "How does President Obama think Snowden should have ‘constructively addressed these issues’ when his administration has led the worst crackdown on national security and intelligence whistleblowers in US history? Earlier, President Obama stated that he had passed an executive order that Snowden could have used in order to go through proper channels. That statement was false. Presidential Policy Directive #19 was not implemented when Snowden blew the whistle on NSA and does not protect contractors like Snowden."The White House is intent on prosecuting Ed Snowden, but it shows no interest in prosecuting those responsible for the illegal collection of bulk call data. Also see:
