White House, lawmakers: no clemency for Snowden

[alp227]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and the leaders of the intelligence committee in Congress are rejecting National Security Agency-contractor Edward Snowden's plea for clemency.

"Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday about the former systems-analyst-turned-fugitive who has temporary asylum in Russia.

"He should return to the U.S. and face justice," Pfeiffer said, adding when pressed that no offers for clemency were being discussed.

Snowden made the plea in a letter given to a German politician and released Friday. In his one-page typed letter, he asks for clemency for charges over allegedly leaking classified information about the NSA to the news media. "''Speaking the truth is not a crime," Snowden wrote.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/white-house-lawmakers-no-clemency-snowden

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See also:

The Guardian, Germany 'should offer Edward Snowden asylum after NSA revelations'

An increasing number of public figures are calling for Edward Snowden to be offered asylum in Germany, with more than 50 asking Berlin to step up it support of the US whistleblower in the new edition of Der Spiegel magazine

Heiner Geissler, the former general secretary of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, says in the appeal: "Snowden has done the western world a great service. It is now up to us to help him."

The writer and public intellectual Hans Magnus Enzensberger argues in his contribution that "the American dream is turning into a nightmare" and suggests that Norway would be best placed to offer Snowden refuge, given its track record of offering political asylum to Leon Trotsky in 1935. He bemoans the fact that in Britain, "which has become a US colony", Snowden is regarded as a traitor.

Other public figures on the list include the actor Daniel Brühl, the novelist Daniel Kehlmann, the entrepreneur Dirk Rossmann, the feminist activist Alice Schwarzer and the German football league president, Reinhard Rauball.

[diabeticman]

1. It is amazing how the Obama administration has been the harshest on whistle-blowers than the

past 6 administrations.

[villager]

23. it was amazing -now its sadly routine

Last edited Sun Nov 3, 2013, 09:29 PM - Edit history (1)

As are the pathetic, mewling defenses of such persecutory zeal, here on this site

[diabeticman]

34. Here is at least one article but if you need more.

http://www.thenation.com/article/173521/obamas-crackdown-whistleblowers


In the annals of national security, the Obama administration will long be remembered for its unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers. Since 2009, it has employed the World War I–era Espionage Act a record six times to prosecute government officials suspected of leaking classified information.


You know it isn't being a toll to be critical of ONE's Party. Some of the Founding Father's considered it an act of a good citizen.


Ever hear the phrase "Speaking Truth to Power?"

[bvar22]

36. So much for the Transparency President.

<sigh>

[deurbano]

37. I think villager was agreeing with you.

Though, it sounds like you think villager was disagreeing. (Unless I am misunderstanding.)

[diabeticman]

39. looking back at the post I think you are right. My bad. It just seems as if people

do want to jump on someone if they aren't toting the DNC line completely.

[villager]

44. Hey, I've had that exact experience -- thinking someone was attacking someone else for not towing

...the line, then realizing they were in fact mocking such rigidity, and discarding of one's principles...

indeed, Villager is agreeing with you...

[diabeticman]

45. so sorry

[villager]

46. well, stuff happens when a party civil war breaks out on a website!

[diabeticman]

47. true

[Demeter]

49. Gentlemen, Please! It's TOEING the Line

Like at the start of a foot race...

Etymology:

Most likely derived from putting one's toe to a line, mark, or seam on a naval ship as a form of regimentation or punishment.

[villager]

65. You're right, and I usually catch that stuff myself...

...though "towing" lends itself to mind's eye images of pulling a rope over one's shoulder, so isn't entirely out of bounds as a visual metaphor...

[bemildred]

61. Happens a lot. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Just be careful.

[cstanleytech]

40. Mmm I guess that depends on how you define what a whistleblower is really. nt

[hughee99]

2. It seems to me like Snowden may have revealed a number of things that could be illegal.

When are those people responsible going to "face justice"?

[Demeter]

3. Well, then on Obama's Own Head Be It

I swear, this is a man who is incapable of counting cards or learning from his mistakes. They must love to see him coming at the poker games.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

18. actually you would be wrong there

Admittedly its a few years since i remember reading a few articles that considered him to be quite good at poker, if i recall correctly his attitude was quite similar to how he has been at the white house(that being patient, logical and deliberate.)

[Demeter]

50. and I think that was just PR BS

and I expect the rest of the world's leaders are of the same opinion.

[Swede Atlanta]

4. Mr. Snowden is deceiving himself if he thinks the U.S. will grant clemency...

on the other hand he has done this nation, and the world, as tremendous service for exposing the unconstitutional and criminal activities of the Executive Branch. The NSA is part of the Executive Branch and Mr. Obama is responsible for their actions.

Congress must of course enact legislation that authorizes criminal and unconstitutional activity as well as fund it. So Congress is not off the hook here.

But I hold all 3 branches of government responsible for unconstitutional, un-democratic and criminal behavior for the actions of the NSA. It should be disbanded immediately. Unfortunately the rolls of the unemployed would go up by as many as 750K when we fire all of the contractors but I am game for that.

I detest the NSA and everything it stands for. It's existence has NOTHING to do with our security. It has everything to do with providing a smoke screen for spying on Americans.

[George II]

5. Yawn! You don't get clemency if you run like a coward!

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. You do if you're Marc Rich

On learning of the indictment plans, Rich fled to Switzerland to escape the charges, which included exploiting the U.S. embargo against Iran, while it was holding U.S. hostages, to make huge profits on illicit Iranian oil sales.

"Marc Rich is to asset concealment what Babe Ruth was to baseball," said Arthur J. Roth, New York state commissioner of taxation and finance.

He remained under threat of a life sentence in a U.S. jail until Clinton pardoned him during the last chaotic hours of his presidency, a move that provoked moral outrage and bewilderment among some politicians. He never returned to the United States.

Rich's ex-wife, Denise, had donated funds for Clinton's presidential library. The former president later said the donation was not a factor in his decision and he had acted partly in response to a request from Israel. He regretted granting the pardon, calling it "terrible politics."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/uk-marcrich-idUKBRE95P0C920130626

[George II]

14. Absolutely NO correlation between Marc Rich and Edward Snowden....

....and I won't even bother with the many reasons.

[Dr. Strange]

43. Well of course not.

Rich wasn't a whisteblower exposing inappropriate behavior.

[George II]

51. Rich wasn't a traitor, he was a common criminal

[Psephos]

53. Re: Snowden - your definition of traitor is my definition of hero.

I have a *lot* of company.

The traitors are agents and officials of the US government. They trample Constitutional rights in a xenophobic obsession with spying on us. Knowledge = power. When these criminals know everything about you, you are no longer in charge of your life. They are.

A review of the history of secret police and what they do with their illegally-obtained information about citizens would make any rational person shudder.

Snowden shined a light into a dark place, and the cockroaches have been scattering ever since.

[brooklynite]

56. Doesn't matter what your definition is, or mine...

...it matters what the Law's definition is.

[Psephos]

57. No. The definition no longer matters. Only the law's "interpretation" by those in power matters.

They can read anything into or out of it that they want.

As the secret FISA courts have shown, you aren't even privy to their interpretation. They literally do as they please.

A cursory read of Soviet history would demonstrate how this works.

Power corrupts. Secret power corrupts exponentially.

[bemildred]

60. Yeah, actually it does, those are the only definitions there are, what some person thinks.

There is not and never was any objective definition for words, just definitions some person thought fit "best".

[last1standing]

8. Yes, Snowden should be punished for exposing criminal activity by the NSA.

Personally, I think the cowardly move would have been to go along with their crimes. Running from persecution is smart.

But I can tell from your obnoxious yawn, and disinterest in government crimes, that you're very sleepy. Why don't you go back to bed and leave this kind of thing to those of us who have woken up?

[Flying Squirrel]

22. !

Unfortunately I try to keep the DUzy Awards as uncontroversial as possible... otherwise that would have been a DUzy!

[JDPriestly]

10. Snowden is doing better than Bradley Manning any day.

Avoiding punishment for a political crime is not cowardice. It is standing up for human rights.

The NSA program, Kerry and Obama have admitted, was/is excessive and needs to be changed.

Snowden deserves credit for having brought the excesses to our attention.

I for one would guess that Snowden wouldn't have said a word had he not seen with his own eyes the excesses and wrongs that are inherent in this apparently unchecked program.

I still object, seriously object, to the collection of all that metadata on Americans. It is unnecessary and probably detrimental to the use of relevant material in criminal cases.

I understand from the New York Times article yesterday that the NSA collects all the data on our credit card charges. NSA is learning all kinds of things about Americans that they don't need to and should not know -- their movie including porn or political documentary viewing habits, what cosmetics people buy and use, what telephone numbers they call most frequently, whether they pay bills on time, personal arguments with people, etc. Why would the NSA want all that information? Why would they want to know what toys I order for a grandchild on Amazon? Or do they want to know that? And if they don't, why are they collecting that kind of information. It is absurd.

[bvar22]

38. "They" are pathetically transparent when they expose themselves like that.

The Royalists called the Sons of Liberty (American Revolution) cowards too
because they wouldn't stand up in straight line and let the British Troops gun them down.
In my book, that makes them SMART.

Snowden is SMART too, and a patriot, and a Watch Dog of our Democracy!

[JDPriestly]

6. Just offhand, I suspect Snowden would be happier in Norway than in Germany.

Too many US soldiers in Germany. Too easy to spot him.

[DontTreadOnMe]

9. What, China won't take him back?

Mr. Snowden didn't think this through... I wonder how his ex-girlfriend thinks about his choices.

[zeemike]

12. And if he would have "thought it through"

He would have done what the cowards do...keep their mouth shut and collected his pay...

[MyNameGoesHere]

16. Or what his ex-cat thinks!

The horror!

[goldent]

11. Why would he want to come back to America?

There are several countries that welcomed him, and Russia at least tolerates him. In America the NSA/FBI/CIA/etc would be all over him on a daily basis.

[jtuck004]

13. If he was in it for clemency or profit he would have been a banker. n/t

[JoeyT]

26. Or a war criminal. n/t

[jtuck004]

27. Hard for me to place him with people who burn villages, gas civilians, and rain death

on innocent children and infants from the air by exposing deceitful and anti-democratic behavior by this government.

Not the first time I've heard this pap, however. They said the same thing about the people trying to end the war in Vietnam, and I thought many people were confused about who the real war criminals were then as well.

[JoeyT]

28. No, I meant if he wanted to avoid prosecution,

he should've been a war criminal. Kill hundreds of thousands needlessly and you can wander around freely giving speeches, lectures, and TV interviews. Expose criminality in the government and you'll be hunted down like a dog.

[jtuck004]

29. Oh. Sometimes I'm so slow <G>

Yeah, that would work, wouldn't it. And then pretend that assassins are out to get you by beaming waves from their Samsung into your pacemaker...

[bemildred]

15. Well I must say this renewed interest in the rule of law is refreshing. nt

[drynberg]

17. SNOWDEN "RAN" AFTER SEEING THE MANNING CASE, DUH! I SEE EDWARD SNOWDEN AS A

A true patriot and hero, a whistle-blowing truth teller. His only crime is to have acted upon his conscience, which I personally don't regard as a crime, but a virtue. How much different would the world be without Snowden, Manning and Assange? Not just different, but much worse off, of course if you're the head of the Empire, I suppose you see it very differently...not correctly, but differently.

[SoapBox]

19. Good.

Little Comrade Eddie, FORMER American and now Putin lap dog...wasn't just a "whistleblower"...he went wild stealing and revealing national secrets.

Does the NSA need heavy surveillance itself? Most likely. But bottom line is...is method has landed him a traitor and criminal.

[christx30]

25. So how does one get

information about crimes the government is commiting without commiting a crime themselves?

[Purveyor]

20. In this circumstance, fuck the white house and fuck the lawmakers. You've been 'made' so get over

it...

[bemildred]

21. I don't think the gov't can AFFORD to let him come home now.

I mean if he is free to speak and appear on TV here, or run for office, all sorts of shit could hit the fan.

[Psephos]

54. a very good point n/t

[bemildred]

59. Thank you. You know he would be in solitary right now.

And you know it would be because they fear what he can say about them (among other motives like revenge).

[cantbeserious]

24. Predictable - Utterly Predictable

eom

[BluegrassDem]

30. Fuck Edward Snowden!

I hope he lives a fucking miserable life in no-man's land getting drunk on vodka for the rest of his life. He deserves to live that shitty hell hole called Russia.

[olddad56]

32. I hope that for you

[OnyxCollie]

33. Fuck the Fourth Amendment!

Bootlickers4Life!

[Psephos]

55. Some people don't mind the taste of ass.

Others even praise the flavor.

[Thinkingabout]

31. Since when has Snowden been concerned with telling the truth? He sign an Code of Ethics

Not to disclose information he may have accessed while working in the NSA, he has violated this code making him a liar. This resulted in a charge of espionage. He stole files while working at the NSA, this makes him a thief. Now he wants to try to convince the weak telling the truth is not a crime so he deserves to to be treated differently from others who has been charged with a crime. He would not know the truth is it slapped him in the face. A thief and liar, doesn't rank in the top notch traits I would desire of anyone.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

35. Clemency for Cheney, but not for Snowden.

[Indi Guy]

58. ...

That was my first reaction as well.

[madrchsod]

42. alleged.....with out proof.

once again our msm makes shit up so the whitehouse has to comment.

[FairWinds]

48. It drives me insane . .

when the media, DU and so many others want to hang Snowden and Manning,
but are totally OK with Richard Armitage and Scooter Libbey walking around free.
Rule of law my ASS !!!

[davidpdx]

52. So he's asking a German politician for clemency?

[bemildred]

62. He wrote a letter asking for clemency so he could testify.

Some German pols took the idea up. Apparently the idea has some political traction in Germany.

[davidpdx]

63. Ok

It sounded to me like he was asking the German pol for clemency in the US. That's what has me confused. It must be because of extradition then.

[bemildred]

64. As I understood it, it was not addressed to any nation in particular.

The Germans are not the only ones who took the idea up.