Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the notorious US National Security Agency, is seeking pardon from President Barack Obama over leaking classified information that embarrassed the state both at home and abroad.
The whistleblower, who has sought asylum in Russia, has a legal team working on the case to make Obama grant pardon before he leaves the White House at the end of this year, his principal legal adviser, Ben Wizner, told New York magazine in a cover story late on Sunday.
“We’re going to make a very strong case between now and the end of this administration that this is one of those rare cases for which the pardon power exists,” Wizner said. “It’s not for when somebody didn’t break the law. It’s for when they did and there are extraordinary reasons for not enforcing the law against the person.”
Snowden began leaking classified intelligence documents in June 2013, revealing the extent of the NSA’s spying activities,…