Edward Snowden speaks during a campaign calling for a pardon.

Edward Snowden speaks during a campaign calling for a pardon. Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx

Would Obama Pardon Edward Snowden?

It's a long shot, but who knows what the president might do in his last months in office.

Last month, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, wrote a letter to the editors of The New York Times. He argued that a recent column that attacked President Obama’s record on government transparency had failed to take into account the steps the administration took to fulfill Obama’s campaign promise of overseeing “the most transparent White House in history.”

The letter was mocked by journalists who have railed against the Obama administration’s startling opacity for years. After it was published, the Sunlight Foundation broke down the president’s record on various measures of transparency, concluding that Obama will leave, at best, a “mixed” legacy.

Now, a group of human-rights organizations is asking for a reprieve for the man who’s done most to expose the Obama administration’s lack of transparency. The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are asking President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed the National Security Agency’s digital spying programs.

In a press conference earlier this week, representatives from the three organizations spoke in support of the campaign to pardon Snowden. “Cases like Edward Snowden’s are precisely why the presidential pardon power exists,” said Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director: cases when mitigating circumstances merit forgiveness for a crime. (Snowden is not involved in the campaign for his pardon, but he did address the press conference by video from Moscow to thank the organizations for their support.)

Romero and the other advocates made an appeal that a pardon would do more than bring one man back from hiding in Moscow. It would send a message to future whistleblowers, they said, that they will be protected if they came forward with information in the public interest. “We will need more Edward Snowdens,” said Naureen Shah, the director of U.S. human rights for Amnesty International.

But does the plea for clemency have a chance?

Early results point to no. Earnest told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the White House doesn’t consider Snowden a whistleblower, and that the president thinks he should return to the U.S. to face the charges of espionage filed against him in 2013. Snowden has admitted to sharing classified information, and would be likely to be convicted of the charges if he stands trial.

Even if Obama were considering changing his mind, his advisors would likely tell him that a pardon would play right into the conservative narrative that Obama is weak on national security issues, and fuel attacks that Obama has a habit of apologizing for America. Lawmakers from both parties have called Snowden a traitor for leaking information to the press that could hurt American interests and make it harder for the intelligence community to gather information on threats to the homeland. Obama may not want to spend precious political capital on Snowden, especially as he looks to shore up other policies, like his ambitious nuclear deal with Iran.

And the backdrop of the incendiary presidential election further complicates the decision. To avoid hurting Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, the White House would likely wait until after the election to announce a pardon. But doing so would clash with Clinton’s previously stated position on Snowden: During a primary debate last year, she said he should not “be brought home without facing the music” because he broke laws and revealed important information. She also said she did not consider him a whistleblower. (Trump, for his part, had this to say on Snowden in 2013: “This guy is a bad guy. And, you know, there is still a thing called execution.”)

The civil-rights groups’ request for a pardon coincides with this week’s release of a biopic about Snowden written and directed by Oliver Stone. The campaign also took out full-page ads in The Washington Post and Politico. A letter asking President Obama for a pardon has already been signed by big-name supporters in the tech world (Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and Steve Wozniak of Apple); Hollywood (Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon); human-rights advocacy (George Soros); and academia (too many to count).

The only hope for securing clemency is to appeal to Obama’s concern for his legacy. During his second term, Obama shown that he’s willing to make unpopular decisions that align with his goals: He’s sharply expanded climate regulations over the last four years, for example, and his controversial overtures to Cuba culminated in a historic presidential trip to Havana this March. Recent small-scale moves have gone against the grain as well, such as when he nominated the first-ever Muslim judge to a federal bench last week.

The campaign organizers are aiming straight for Obama’s instinct to ignore critics during his final months in office. “A pardon would help the president acknowledge that the government did wrong,” said the ACLU’s Romero. “It would be a counterpoint to some of the most problematic aspects of President Obama’s national-security legacy.”

Entertaining the groups’ demands would not place Obama entirely outside the mainstream. Eric Holder, Obama’s first attorney general, has called Snowden’s leak a “public service,” though he stopped short of calling for a pardon. And on Wednesday, Bernie Sanders wrote for The Guardian that “the interests of justice would be best served if our government granted him some form of clemency or a plea agreement that would spare him a long prison sentence or permanent exile.”

Obama has pardoned a historically low number of people during his presidency, though he has commuted more sentences than any president since Calvin Coolidge.

In contrast to the statements from the White House press office, the Obama administration has in fact often been hostile to journalists and whistleblowers, marring his promise to bring unparalleled transparency to the presidency. As the end of his second term nears, Snowden and his supporters hope the president will seize a chance to make a conciliatory gesture with an eye to the history books—before he leaves office, taking with him any reasonable chance for clemency.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.