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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Fri Dec 20, 2013, 05:05 PM Dec 2013

Snowden's Case Is Up To The Courts, Obama Says

Source: TPM

CATHERINE THOMPSON – DECEMBER 20, 2013, 3:14 PM EST

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's fate lies with the U.S. courts and Attorney General Eric Holder, President Barack Obama said Friday.

The NSA official in charge of the task force investigating Snowden's leaks, Rick Ledgett, floated the option of granting the fugitive contractor amnesty in a "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday. But Obama declined to discuss the specifics of Snowden's case in a press conference, citing the contractor's indictment on charges of espionage and theft of government property.

"I will leave it up to the courts and the attorney general to weigh in publicly on the specifics of Mr. Snowden's case," Obama told reporters. The President acknowledged that Snowden's leaks prompted an important debate about government surveillance, but argued those disclosures unnecessarily damaged the intelligence community as well.

"The way in which these disclosures happened have been damaging to the United States and have been damaging to our intelligence capabilities," Obama said. "I think there was a way for us to have this conversation without that damage."

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/snowden-s-case-is-up-to-the-courts-obama-says

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Snowden's Case Is Up To The Courts, Obama Says (Original Post) DonViejo Dec 2013 OP
"I think there was a way for us to have this conversation without that damage." Th1onein Dec 2013 #1
There would never have been a conversaion... ReRe Dec 2013 #2
He has the power to pardon. Dopers_Greed Dec 2013 #3
hey it's your legacy, man. frylock Dec 2013 #4
I wonder how many white collar criminals will receive pardons at the end of the term Ash_F Dec 2013 #5

Th1onein

(8,514 posts)
1. "I think there was a way for us to have this conversation without that damage."
Fri Dec 20, 2013, 05:07 PM
Dec 2013

Lie. Look at what happened before.

How about you stop prosecuting whistleblowers, President Obama?

Ash_F

(5,861 posts)
5. I wonder how many white collar criminals will receive pardons at the end of the term
Fri Dec 20, 2013, 07:04 PM
Dec 2013

Not that many are getting jailed in the first place.

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