Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 232 posts

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#151

Post by bdcravens »

0df8dkdf wrote: post #58
Semaphor wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s an easy PR win. The US behaves like a petulant child, and Russia can come off like the benevolent country protecting freedom. That seems like an extremely easy decision to make.

Pardon Snowden and Assange. Let all the dirt about all the high level people come out no matter how dark dirty or ugly they are, only then does US can start to establish some legitimacy on the world stage.

I don't trust they wouldn't find a way to still lock them up (note that pardons only apply to federal-level cases, not state)

I also don't feel the current administration (or future ones that prescribe to Trump Doctrine) would even entertain the idea, being that hardcore military support is a large part of their narrative.

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#152

Post by bdcravens »

oh_sigh wrote: post #136
0df8dkdf wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pardon Snowden and Assange. Let all the dirt about all the high level people come out no matter how dark dirty or ugly they are, only then does US can start to establish some legitimacy on the world stage.

There's no reason to believe Snowden or Assange have dirt on high level people that they've been sitting on. Why wouldn't they have released it already?

It would be their ace in the hole

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#154

Post by bdcravens »

shadowgovt wrote: post #60
jb1991 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely false. Look at Nixon.

Nobody's ever challenged Ford's pardon of Nixon. It's actually real unclear what the legality of it would be if a subsequent President had tried to arrest him.

It's been surmised that "resign and get pardoned" may happen again in our lifetimes.

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#155

Post by failuser »

pps43 wrote: post #93
failuser wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more unfaltering facts uncovered about US the better for Russia. They also like to point to US to justify actions within the country: COPM is justified by NSA surveillance. They see Snowden as their guy and protect him.

Snowden is against government surveillance. It's hard to argue he can be used to justify SORM.

He can’t, but his findings can. That’s a common doublethink technique: «you say X is bad, but Americans do X, so shut up».

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#156

Post by soledades »

whateveracct wrote: post #110
seppin wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Russia can come off like the benevolent country protecting freedom. Not even the most devoted partisan can claim this was a straight face. Russia kills journalists that speak against Putin, poison political opposition, and paint with microwave radiation any diplomat misguided enough to attempt a dialogue. It's a mafia state, pure and simple.

HN contrarians don't wanna hear that - they routinely gobble up the narrative that the US is less free than Russia and other autocracies.

Yeah, gimme some of that gobbledygook.. gobble gobble gobble

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#157

Post by shadowgovt »

function_seven wrote: post #140
shadowgovt wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And no subsequent President challenged that pardon. That's the operative factor here. Nobody's ever tried to claim the President lacks authority to pardon for crimes untried. What would happen if it was tried is unclear; there's no precedent. Trump's enough of an outlier that his successor might actually test the hypothesis.

> The President...shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. The Constitution makes no mention of trial, or of conviction. Indeed, the Supreme Court has ruled that pardons can be offered prior to a conviction in Ex parte Garland [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Garland

Correct on "Crimes untried," and my error. Ex parte Garland clearly covers that.

However, subsequent rulings call into question the absolute scope of Ex parte Garland (https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic...).

In particular, in case of dispute, the Court has the authority to adjudicate the dispute. It's the authority the Court used to hear Ex parte Garland in the first place.

And to my knowledge, there has never been a case that considers the President's ability to pardon for all possible crimes that could be filed related to some action. So if a subsequent President chooses to tack on a fourth crime to the list of three Snowden is currently charged with, a Trump pardon would likely not attach. At least, it would be up to the Court to decide if it attaches.

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#158

Post by pharke »

elefanten wrote: post #90
mikestew wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you weren't alive or old enough to pay attention back when Russia ballet dancers/athletes/et. al. would come to the U. S. for the Russian Nutcracker Ballet tour, then ask for asylum. Or maybe your country-that-is-not-the-US didn't make a big deal of it, but it would be all over the news about how some ballet performer seeks asylum from The Evil Empire(tm). Of course the person would seek asylum in the U. S.,…

Maybe because they don't really have a story for why anyone would want to move there, other than running afoul of the same state security organizations that Russia is already opposed to. It's not exactly a huge draw for anyone who does NOT have those unusual security concerns.

I don't think the intent was ever to attract more immigrants. It's simply prestige for your own values and a snub for the opposition.

Re: Russia gives Edward Snowden permanent residency

#159

Post by lensi »

mikestew wrote: post #65
chrisco255 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stand corrected...pardon me.

Still time to delete that erroneous comment should you so choose. Be advised, now that there are replies, that it will show as "[deleted]".

Yeah, just add an edit to the post.
Post reply on HN