Justice, Politics

Obama Pardons Don't Go Far Enough, Which Kind Of Sums Up His Whole Legacy

Maybe Obama could have done more...

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Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden

Where the hell is the pardon for Edward Snowden? Seriously, where in the holy hell is the pardon for the guy whose only crime was telling the world about some illegal surveillance the government shouldn’t be doing anyway? I’m happy for Chelsea Manning, I really am. Her punishment far outstripped her crimes, and any time you can do something nice for a transgendered individual being held in a male prison, so much the better.

But where. The F**k. Is the pardon for my man Snowden? Does Joseph Gordon-Levitt need to get betrothed to Malia? ‘Cause, we can make that happen I think.

In defending the commutation of Chelsea Manning — which has come under fire from Republicans because, you know, “mercy” is not their thing — the Obama administration has slyly made the case against pardoning Snowden. From Politico:

“Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence,” Obama said Wednesday at the final press conference of his presidency. “The notion that the average person that was thinking about disclosing vital classified information would think it goes unpunished—I don’t think they would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served.”

By comparison, Snowden has served no time. Obama here implies that the “average person” might well think about disclosing vital information if we let Snowden come back, unpunished.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest made the juxtaposition even more sternly. From Slate:

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“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing.” By contrast, he went on, “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Hold up right there. Snowden “fled into the arms of an adversary,” because the government that is supposed to be against warrantless surveillance turned against him. Now, you want to blame Snowden because Russia elected Donald Trump? Airbnb might as well be running a secret cam-girl on Brazzers. My child’s internet-of-things toy kitchen could probably be used to DDOS the BBC. Let’s pin all that on Snowden too.

To the extent that Russia has turned Snowden into an asset, that seems like another reason IN FAVOR of pardoning him. You bring him home, he stops being of use to the Russians. Remember, Snowden stole a lot more information than just what he’s released about domestic surveillance. The Russians have some of that now, and Snowden probably still has more since he seems to like being alive.

I mean, here’s a question, if Snowden was pardoned, would the Russians let him leave?

The Obama administration also argues that the Snowden has not filed the proper paperwork to request clemency, nor has he submitted himself to the authority of the United States. This seems important to the President. If Snowden let our authorities smack him down just a little bit, maybe we could be lenient. It’s important to note, again, that Chelsea Manning was granted a “commutation,” not a pardon. Obama seems moved by the idea that Manning has served her time, while Snowden has not.

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That’s a big part of how Obama rolls. He likes commutations, he dislikes pardons.

But if “commutations” are going to be the fig leaf Obama hides behind, then I’m forced to bring up Leonard Peltier. Peltier is a Native-American activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975. Only he probably didn’t. And others who escaped conviction were probably coerced into testifying against him. Numerous groups have called for clemency in his case.

Of course, pardoning Peltier would probably piss off the FBI — you know, the organization that has more influence over our elections than Edward Snowden.

Look, I’m not slamming the President. Obama has commuted more sentences than any other president. He’s commuted more sentences than the past 12 presidents combined. He’s got a system for doing this, and I should be inclined to trust his judgement more than the pet projects of activists.

But with Trump coming in, it just feels like these are our last stabs at justice for a very, very long time. I wish Obama had done more. I will spend the next four years wishing Obama had done more.

Obama defends Chelsea Manning commutation [Politico]
Obama Was Right to Commute Chelsea Manning’s Sentence [Slate]

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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