Snowden: I'd Go To Jail To Come Back To The U.S.

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That's odd, you'd think the U.S. government would be more than willing to take Edward Snowden up on this offer. ;)

Edward Snowden, the former U.S. government contractor who fled to Russia more than two years ago after leaking documents about National Security Agency surveillance programs, says he's willing to go to jail in order to return to the United States.
 
What? Is he getting tired of the Russian pole-dancers?

Somehow I doubt that; I mean damn... have you seen them? :p


No, I think it's to double underline the fact he can't get a fair trial for exposing illegal acts by our government.

If he actually gets a trial, people might think; "Wait, why is he even being charged for blowing the whistle on Felons and Traitors?"

We can't have that happen, can we?
 
That's odd, you'd think the U.S. government would be more than willing to take Edward Snowdenup on this offer

no, no I would not think that

I think it is summary execution for Ed if they ever get hold of him
 
As much as I 100% endorse what Snowden did - I always felt if he was going to bear the cross he should have laid down on said cross 100% and remained here to face said prosecution - unfair trail or not - him made to be a martyr or not.
 
As much as I 100% endorse what Snowden did - I always felt if he was going to bear the cross he should have laid down on said cross 100% and remained here to face said prosecution - unfair trail or not - him made to be a martyr or not.

"It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier. " -Lazarus Long
 
"It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier. " -Lazarus Long

I don't fault him on a personal level - self preservation is human instinct. It's just how I feel in the greater scheme of things.
 
It's a stunt. He say's he'd volunteer to go to jail, BS.

All he has to do is go home, if they are going to arrest him then they'll arrest him. If he goes to trial then he goes to trial, they really won't have to work very hard to convict him, he is without any doubt guilty of the crimes he did commit.

The only real question is how lenient or severe the sentencing will be. I know the Judge for Chealse Manning went far easier on "her" then I thought she would. Snowden might not come out as bad as he thinks.

But I'll admit, I don't have a good view of Snowden, I think he is a liar, a theif, a wanabe hero who only want's to be "somebody important" in some way and not have to really do anything to earn it. But that's my opinion, you are all entitled to your own. I don't think he will ever come home unless he get's a signed pardon first and I don't see that happening soooo, yea, He'll probably die in Russia and it's the Russians who are most likely to do it.
 
All he has to do is get on a plane to the US and they will put him in jail as soon as he lands. No bail, since he already ran once, no chance of winning in court either. Whatever shenanigans he may have exposed, he still broke the law to do it.
 
I don't fault him on a personal level - self preservation is human instinct. It's just how I feel in the greater scheme of things.

So you would have turned yourself in for 3 or 4 years of torture before they gave you the needle right.

I think by fleeing he has not only shone a light on the going ons in the documents he leaked. He is also shining a light on the anti whistle blower culture in the US gov. Had he turned himself in he would have been locked up hidden away and after he was forgotten by all the major media executed. As long as he stays alive the story does as well.
 
So you would have turned yourself in for 3 or 4 years of torture before they gave you the needle right.

I think by fleeing he has not only shone a light on the going ons in the documents he leaked. He is also shining a light on the anti whistle blower culture in the US gov. Had he turned himself in he would have been locked up hidden away and after he was forgotten by all the major media executed. As long as he stays alive the story does as well.

No, I probably would have done just as he did. Like I said, I can't fault him. Self preservation is human nature. I would probably have fallen to it just as he did. Still doesn't change my outside view on the matter seeing as I am not in his position.
 
If the surveillance programs continued, it would have only been a matter of time before some new slightly more intrusive surveillance was added on top of what was already there. He was right to reveal the details about the programs. That being said, he made his bed, and now he has to lie in it. If he thinks that coming home will get him anything more than a sham trial with a treason conviction then he's dreaming. He better learn to speak Russian and like Vodka.
 
The US would have to guarantee an open/public trial. Otherwise if he comes back I'd suspect he gets renditioned by secret court-order and tried in some secret trial, never to be heard from again.

Our government doesn't exactly play by the same rules post 9/11.
 
No, I probably would have done just as he did. Like I said, I can't fault him. Self preservation is human nature. I would probably have fallen to it just as he did. Still doesn't change my outside view on the matter seeing as I am not in his position.

I think the problem is that your position makes no sense really. What's the point in staying so you'll be punished and treated unfairly? What good does that do anyone? No, what he did is correct and the most sensible choice. Rethink your position perhaps? Or don't I suppose.
 
He's too well known to get the black bag now, he'd go to prison and at some point a president would pardon him. He never betrayed the American people, he betrayed the back to back presidencies that betrayed the American people.
 
I think the problem is that your position makes no sense really. What's the point in staying so you'll be punished and treated unfairly? What good does that do anyone? No, what he did is correct and the most sensible choice. Rethink your position perhaps? Or don't I suppose.

It's called accepting responsibility for your actions, for better or worse.
 
The US would have to guarantee an open/public trial. Otherwise if he comes back I'd suspect he gets renditioned by secret court-order and tried in some secret trial, never to be heard from again.

Our government doesn't exactly play by the same rules post 9/11.


Why do you think they would need to do anything special? He is guilty of several crimes regarding his data theft, and later dissemination of classified documents to foreign powers.
They would not have to make something up to get an espionage conviction with a long prison term at the conclusion of the trial.
 
US prison is probably one of the harshest places in the world you could go to, other than some 3rd world country prisons, not sure why he'd want to go back to the states only to get pretty much all his life taken away. Doing a crime against the government is like 10x worse than a crime against a civilian so he would get the book thrown at him despite the fact what he did was actually the right thing, ethically speaking.

Pretty sure if he does not get life they'd probably give him death. I could see the US government pull that off tbh. Basically they would treat him as a war criminal.

In reality, it's the government that is criminal.
 
TBH I love some of the information that has come out of the Snowden leaks. I just hate that he committed treason to do it.
 
US prison is probably one of the harshest places in the world you could go to,

Not really, compared to most of the rest of the world, and other first world places, U.S prison is like a summer vacation. (See Russian prison's and some Asian prisons)
 
He has a much better chance of getting a fair trial now as opposed to two years ago. The information he leaked has been proved out to be factual and many feel he did not only the US good, but the whole world. I think he should be protected by the whistle blowers act for exposing illegal activities even though it was classified. He could be tried, possibly found guilty of breaking his non-disclousure agreement, get a short sentence and have it suspended. He could actually get a full pardon by the out going President. Stranger things have happened.
 
Why do you think they would need to do anything special? He is guilty of several crimes regarding his data theft, and later dissemination of classified documents to foreign powers.
They would not have to make something up to get an espionage conviction with a long prison term at the conclusion of the trial.

What's your point?

Our legal system is shit. Anyone here can list a dozen or more ways that operating outside the law is more humane that obeying it.
 
What's your point?

Our legal system is shit. Anyone here can list a dozen or more ways that operating outside the law is more humane that obeying it.

Exceptions to the rule do not disqualify the rule itself.
 
It's a stunt. He say's he'd volunteer to go to jail, BS.

All he has to do is go home, if they are going to arrest him then they'll arrest him. If he goes to trial then he goes to trial, they really won't have to work very hard to convict him, he is without any doubt guilty of the crimes he did commit.

The only real question is how lenient or severe the sentencing will be. I know the Judge for Chealse Manning went far easier on "her" then I thought she would. Snowden might not come out as bad as he thinks.

I actually agree with you that he is guilty of breaking a number of laws...Even if he was eligible for whistleblower protections, he committed additional crimes that would not be covered under such protections. Every foreign intelligence gathering operation he exposed would fall in this category, and there were many.

Unlike Manning, he is not a member of the military, so I would expect him to get a jury trial, and that's where things get interesting. We have a long history in this country of juries ignoring the facts to decide verdicts based on other factors. And it only takes 1 to hang a jury. I think the government might have a harder time getting a jury conviction than you may expect. I think the government knows it would have a hard time getting a jury conviction.
 
I actually agree with you that he is guilty of breaking a number of laws...Even if he was eligible for whistleblower protections, he committed additional crimes that would not be covered under such protections. Every foreign intelligence gathering operation he exposed would fall in this category, and there were many.

Unlike Manning, he is not a member of the military, so I would expect him to get a jury trial, and that's where things get interesting. We have a long history in this country of juries ignoring the facts to decide verdicts based on other factors. And it only takes 1 to hang a jury. I think the government might have a harder time getting a jury conviction than you may expect. I think the government knows it would have a hard time getting a jury conviction.

Plus it leads to the possibility of jury nullification for him if he did stand trial.
 
He has a much better chance of getting a fair trial now as opposed to two years ago. The information he leaked has been proved out to be factual and many feel he did not only the US good, but the whole world. I think he should be protected by the whistle blowers act for exposing illegal activities even though it was classified. He could be tried, possibly found guilty of breaking his non-disclousure agreement, get a short sentence and have it suspended. He could actually get a full pardon by the out going President.

Snowden faces charges under a World War I-era espionage law that does not allow for a public interest defense.

"The Espionage Act finds anyone guilty who provides any information to the public, regardless of whether it is right or wrong," Snowden said. "You aren't even allowed to explain to a jury what your motivations were for revealing this information. It is simply a question of, 'Did you reveal information?' If yes, you go to prison for the rest of your life."

The President should PARDON SNOWDEN!
 
I think it is summary execution for Ed if they ever get hold of him

This is the main reason why he hasn't come back. The US government refuses to rule-out the death penalty as a possible punishment.

What he is saying with that "offer" is that he is willing to come back and serve some prison time, as long as the government promises not to kill him
 
While I don't agree with killing him for his crimes i have no problem with his spending the rest of his days behind bars away from anything electronic. Blindly unloading nsa hard drives to untrustworthy hands he probably met online was quite stupid and included stuff far beyond the scope of home surveillance.
 
Good. I hope he comes back soon. I would personally throw him in jail myself the moment he steps off the plane if I could.
 
Good. I hope he comes back soon. I would personally throw him in jail myself the moment he steps off the plane if I could.

Why don't you personally throw the NSA in jail for violating the US Constitution. The waste of money spent hunting for boogie men is insane.
 
Why don't you personally throw the NSA in jail for violating the US Constitution. The waste of money spent hunting for boogie men is insane.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
 
He's become almost as bad as Kim Dotcom with his random press coverage anytime he says something else stupid. Really, the only big difference is that his name isn't stupid and he isn't a schweaty-chunk. Otherwise, they both did something illegal they refuse to accept responsibility for doing and they're both trying to play themselves off as victims of some imaginary corrupted government that doesn't exist, but a small segment of people really are hoping so hard to believe in that they'll grab onto the silly press coverage as justification for being upset and therefore support those two.
 
front lawn white house Obama busts a cap in his head. only way..
 
Somehow I doubt that; I mean damn... have you seen them? :p


No, I think it's to double underline the fact he can't get a fair trial for exposing illegal acts by our government.

If he actually gets a trial, people might think; "Wait, why is he even being charged for blowing the whistle on Felons and Traitors?"

We can't have that happen, can we?

One could look at it as two wrongs don't make a right. It's not like he's in Russia telling exposing their spy program, and you know they have one, just like the other country he fled to. Illegal acts in this case is all perception of how the NSA tools are used. Just like guns don't kill people, people kill people. It is not the program that is wrong, it's people like Snowden that abuse them, then go, look people can abuse this. He's no hero. We don't want him back. He can rot in Russia. The USA didn't get a fair shot with him childishly running to China then Russia with this information, he belongs in a sarlac pit with no jet pack.
 
One could look at it as two wrongs don't make a right. It's not like he's in Russia telling exposing their spy program, and you know they have one, just like the other country he fled to. Illegal acts in this case is all perception of how the NSA tools are used. Just like guns don't kill people, people kill people. It is not the program that is wrong, it's people like Snowden that abuse them, then go, look people can abuse this. He's no hero. We don't want him back. He can rot in Russia. The USA didn't get a fair shot with him childishly running to China then Russia with this information, he belongs in a sarlac pit with no jet pack.
You're like the example of the idiotic nationalist who can't pull his head out of the sand to realize that the enemy is the government.
Just keep bombing hospitals, fairly sure that's all you can accomplish.
 
You're like the example of the idiotic nationalist who can't pull his head out of the sand to realize that the enemy is the government.
Just keep bombing hospitals, fairly sure that's all you can accomplish.

Why would you resort to insulting someone who has a different (and 100% more realistic) opinion about something than you do? Usually people only do that if they know their own opinion is sitting on top of an indefensible, terminally distorted view of reality.
 
Bud no one can argue with that. There have been whistle blowers before and i hope there are more on some things but they were not retarded like this one. Like I said he did one part good and one part stupid by unloading endless docs with info like where and how we spy on terrorist groups. That is f'n stupid imho. If he actually went through them, picked the ones needed to make his point, then things would have been much different. He acted like the attention needing man child that he is without actually giving second thought that some things should remain hidden for the greater good
 
Why would you resort to insulting someone who has a different (and 100% more realistic) opinion about something than you do? Usually people only do that if they know their own opinion is sitting on top of an indefensible, terminally distorted view of reality.
What part of my reply was insulting?
 
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