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posted by martyb on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the keeping-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer dept.

Edward Snowden said that from contacts he has had with those in the White House and in President Obama's orbit, "we've come to understand that [Obama] was personally wounded as a result of these disclosures," which prompted Snowden to seek asylum outside the country.

[...] Snowden also addressed the notion of President Obama pardoning him. Based on communications he had with Obama's White House and those in the former president's orbit, Snowden realized he would not receive a pardon because the information Snowden leaked significantly damaged Obama's legacy.

[...] It had long been speculated, leading up to Obama's final hours in office, that he would grant Snowden a 11th hour pardon.

Snowden, however, disputed this notion saying, "I don't think it was a likely case. I'm not even sure it was a possible case, because the president himself was the one most personally embarrassed by these disclosures."

"[Obama] campaigned in 2007...on the platform of saying he would end exactly this kind of warrantless mass surveillance," Snowden continued. "In secret, instead of ending this programs, he entrenched them and expanded them. He made their reach greater, he made their use more common, he normalized what had been an unlawful and unpopular program of the George Bush administration and made it a new American tradition."

Will Obama's legacy come to be, as Snowden seems to suggest, that he normalized police state surveillance?


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by splodus on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:47PM (5 children)

    by splodus (4877) on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:47PM (#520293)

    Seems to me Trump is on a personal crusade to simply do the opposite of whatever Obama did.

    So maybe Snowden is hoping that if he can get it onto Trump's radar that Obama would *never* grant a pardon. And that Snowden was an *embarrassment* to Obama...

    Well then, perhaps Trump will think 'Ha! I'll pardon him! And call him a hero for exposing whatever it was Obama was up to!!'

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 04 2017, @05:52PM (#520295)

    Ding ding ding. There is a madness to the method after all.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 04 2017, @06:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 04 2017, @06:02PM (#520299)

    Good for Trump to undo Ofuckacare and everything else he and the last 5 or so fucktards (and their cronies) did to us.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by pkrasimirov on Sunday June 04 2017, @07:26PM (2 children)

    by pkrasimirov (3358) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 04 2017, @07:26PM (#520327)

    We're speaking about Trump here, right? So he may actually do it. Overnight. On Twitter. And when Snowden moves to America Trump will declare he's is no longer pardoned.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday June 04 2017, @07:57PM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 04 2017, @07:57PM (#520341) Journal

      And when Snowden moves to America Trump will declare he's is no longer pardoned fired. I mean, actually fired. With guns.

      FTFY

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 1) by Frost on Monday June 05 2017, @06:10AM

        by Frost (3313) on Monday June 05 2017, @06:10AM (#520587)

        I mean, actually fired. With guns flamethrowers.

        FTFY