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Obama Says He Can’t Pardon Snowden

posted by n1 on Tuesday November 22 2016, @02:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-and-no-means-no dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

A campaign to pardon NSA leaker Edward Snowden, launched in combination with a fawning Oliver Stone film about him, hasn't made any headway. The request spurred the entire membership of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, 13 Republicans and 9 Democrats, to send a letter to President Barack Obama urging against a pardon. "He is a criminal," they stated flatly.

Obama weighed in on the matter on Friday. During his European tour, he was interviewed by Der Spiegel—the largest newspaper in Germany, a country where Snowden is particularly popular. After discussing a wide range of issues, he was asked: Are you going to pardon Edward Snowden?

Obama replied: "I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves, so that's not something that I would comment on at this point."

Will the NSA's spying and Snowden's actions come to define Obama's legacy?

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Arik on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:05AM

    by Arik (4543) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:05AM (#430999) Journal
    "Obama replied: "I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves, so that's not something that I would comment on at this point.""

    Not just a lie, but a horribly obvious lie. He can't seriously think anyone believed him?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon
    --
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:13AM (#431005)

    Waiting for "pffft- anyone can edit wiki" and rattle off a list of unsubstantiated reasons why Obama is correct.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:25AM

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:25AM (#431019) Journal

      He was a Constitutional lawyer! There's no way he could be wrong about the Constitution, right?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#United_States [wikipedia.org]

      The Justice Department requires that anyone requesting a pardon wait five years after conviction or release prior to receiving a pardon. A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.[24] Clemency may also be granted without the filing of a formal request and even if the intended recipient has no desire to be pardoned. In the overwhelming majority of cases, however, the Office of the Pardon Attorney will consider only petitions from persons who have completed their sentences and, in addition, have demonstrated their ability to lead a responsible and productive life for a significant period after conviction or release from confinement.

      Holy shit. OBAMA FUCKING STRAIGHT UP LIED.

      Not to mention Thanksgiving is in like, 3 days, and he will pardon A GODDAMN TURKEY.

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:38AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:38AM (#431033)

        OHMIGOD!

        It's like you don't know any child can alter a wiki article.

        Or the Russians. I bet the Russians have hacked wiki and altered all of the articles.

        Can't you use a reputable source, like somebody's blog or something?

        Waddya mean it isn't Facebook approved?

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @05:00AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @05:00AM (#431068)

        OBAMA FUCKING STRAIGHT UP LIED.

        What did you expect from the founder of ISIS?

      • (Score: 2) by chromas on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:10AM

        by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:10AM (#431086) Journal

        …the Office of the Pardon Attorney will consider only petitions from persons who have completed their sentences…

        Well that sounds useful.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:16AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:16AM (#431111)

          …the Office of the Pardon Attorney will consider only petitions from persons who have completed their sentences…

          So now they're the grammar police? /rimshot

      • (Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Tuesday November 22 2016, @09:47AM

        by cubancigar11 (330) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @09:47AM (#431143) Homepage Journal

        Snowden caused attack on Assange. Assange caused attack on Hillary.

        You will get a pardon from Democrats' cold dead hands.

        And now that Obama has said this, as a general rule, no one will pardon Snowden. He is too small a fish.

      • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:58PM

        by linkdude64 (5482) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:58PM (#431275)

        BREAKING NEWS!!!

        OBAMA IS A LIAR! SKY IS BLUE! VIM BETTER THAN EMACS!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:28AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:28AM (#431053)

      His first act upon assuming office was to grant his predecessor “a full, free, and absolute pardon.”

      -- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gerald-Ford [britannica.com]

      His most famous and daring decision was to pardon former President Richard Nixon of any crimes for the good of the nation.

      -- http://www.conservapedia.com/Gerald_Ford [conservapedia.com]

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:30AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:30AM (#431093) Journal

      Well, this site [usconstitution.net] is not a Wiki.

      (Note that in that page, the link "Article 2, Section 2" actually links to Article 1, Section 2 instead; however it is not hard to navigate to the correct article/section from there.)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday November 22 2016, @10:13AM

        by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Tuesday November 22 2016, @10:13AM (#431148) Homepage
        ... actually links to ...

        If only that page were a Wiki, so someone could fix the mistake.
        --
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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @05:40PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @05:40PM (#431354)

        $website_you_linked is a known biased source! It's been discredited! Only politically correct leftists would use $that_site! George Soros! Jews!

  • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday November 22 2016, @09:54AM

    by Dunbal (3515) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @09:54AM (#431144)

    Democrats believed him.