If it was just about being a whistleblower, then I would support a pardon. But a lot of the documents he stole had nothing to do with privacy, so he really does need to answer for what he did. Running to hide in Russia didn't help his case, either.
I read recently that Julian Assange has offered to come out of the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London if Snowden is pardoned. That's a tradeoff I would be willing to support - Assange is under indictment (I think in Sweden) for sexual assault, and some of the stuff Wikileaks released in the past actually put American lives at risk by identifying intelligence operatives. So if we can trade Snowden for Assange, it could be a win-win. There's no indication so far that Obama will pardon Snowden; who knows what Trump will do. |
