Presidential pardon for Edward Snowden would be ‘serious mistake,’ says Adam Smith, Mac Thornberry

The bipartisan leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday it would be a “serious mistake” for President Trump to pardon former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Mr. Snowden, 36, has lived in Russia since June 2013 while on the lam from authorities in the U.S., where he remains wanted on criminal charges stemming from his admitted role in leaking material to the media about the government’s domestic and foreign surveillance operations.

Mr. Trump said Saturday that he would consider pardoning Mr. Snowden, who he has previously called a “traitor” and a “spy who should be executed.”

“There are many, many people — it seems to be a split decision — many people think that he should be somehow be treated differently and other people think he did very bad things,” Mr. Trump said during a press conference at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. “I’m going to take a very good look at it.”

Reps. Adam Smith, Washington Democrat and committee chair, and Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican and ranking member of the committee, rejected Mr. Trump’s consideration in a joint statement, saying that pardoning Mr. Snowden “would completely undermine this Administration’s position and mock our national security workforce who take immense caution in their work to keep us safe.”

“It would be a serious mistake to pardon anyone who is charged under the Espionage Act, who admits to leaking sensitive information, and who has spent years since then as a guest of the Putin regime,” the lawmakers said. “Not only would it mean that Snowden cannot be held accountable for his crimes, but it would send a dangerous message to others who are contemplating espionage and the adversaries who would support them.”

Mr. Snowden faces up to 30 years in prison if put on trial in the U.S. and convicted on all three criminal counts he currently faces, including violations of the Espionage Act and theft of government property.