A petition to pardon Edward Snowden has reached its goal of 100,000 signatures. The petition asks that President Obama pardon the NSA leaker and under Whitehouse.gov guidelines 100,000 signatures is supposed to elicit an official response from the administration.
The We The People petition demands that Edward Snowden be pardoned from any crime he may have committed by releasing confidential information belonging to the NSA and all of its government partners.
The petition was launched almost the moment that it was revealed Snowden had released classified NSA information.
In the online document, Snowden is called a “national hero.” The document also claims he “should be immediately issued a full, free and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs .”
The Snowden petition reached 100,000 signatures just one day after US prosecutors had filed a criminal complaint which detailed various charges against the NSA leaker. Charges against Edward Snowden include espionage, theft, and conversion of government property.
Officials asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden for extradition but the NSA leaker has already fled to Moscow.
In the past, some petitions that have reached 100,000 signatures were responded to only after a long delay from the White House. There is no self-imposed deadline for the White House to address the Edward Snowden petition.
Under We The People guidelines:
“To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.”
With more than 100,000 US citizens demanding that Edward Snowden be pardoned, there could be a misstep by the Obama administration if an answer is not issued.
Do you think the people have spoken and Edward Snowden should be pardoned?
[Image via Yahoo! News]
