Jimmy Carter: If I Were President, I Would Consider Pardoning Edward Snowden

Fmr US President Carter open to pardoning Snowden (RT)

While admitting he is not fully briefed on the repercussions, a former US president has admitted that he would be open to pardoning Edward Snowden if the former NSA contractor returned to the states and was convicted of leaking classified agency secrets.

President Jimmy Carter, a Georgia Democrat who sat in the Oval Office from 1977 to 1981, has been outspoken in his criticism of the NSA surveillance programs Snowden revealed last year. Touching on a number of topics during an interview with the Washington Post, Carter, 89, said he does not have “the information President Obama has about what has been done to our security apparatus,” but that absolving Snowden of his crimes should be an option.

“If he was found guilty and sentenced to death, I would certainly consider pardon,” said Carter, who also recommended that Obama explore using an executive order to stop the surveillance.