Edward Snowden Petition for Pardon Passes 100,000 Signatures; Washington In Fury Over China’s Actions

An Edward Snowden petition asking President Obama for a pardon for the whistleblower passed 100,000 signatures. The Edward Snowden petition says he should be pardoned for any crimes for blowing the whistle on classified government programs that were designed to collect phone records and online data.

The Edward Snowden petition calls the former contractor for the National Security Agency a “national hero” for leaking state secrets. The Edward Snowden petition is posted on Whitehouse.gov.

The Snowden petition got 100,000 signatures within two weeks of it being posted on the government site. The White House has an official policy to publicly respond to any petition that gets 100,000 signatures within thirty days. The White House hasn’t made any indication about when it will respond. It usually doesn’t comment on petitions that have to do with law enforcement subjects, which includes requests for pardons. But we will see how the administration goes forward on the Snowden espionage charges.

Washington is in a fury at how Snowden was hustled out of Hong Kong. The U.S. revoked Snowden’s passport and demanded that he be detained detention. The White House has been very clear that relations with China are under great strain over the matter.

In state-run newspapers, China published angry commentaries that reject U.S. Claims it helped Snowden. China’s newspapers have been portraying the Snowden as a young idealist and as a hero. The People's Daily said the U.S. should apologize for hacking into Hong Kong and Chinese networks, which was alleged by Snowden, rather than criticizing China for harboring a criminal.

Snowden’s whereabouts remain unclear.