US Presidential Candidates Should Dismiss Thought of Pardoning Snowden - Senator

Anyone participating in the race for the White House should dismiss the idea of pardoning former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, US Senator Tom Cotton said in statement on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In 2013, Snowden revealed classified documents to two reporters exposing the mass surveillance practices of the US government at home and abroad. Snowden faces espionage and other charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.

"Any thought to pardoning Edward Snowden should be immediately dismissed by President Obama, or anybody seeking to hold the office of the president," Cotton stated.

Cotton claimed that Snowden’s revelations have done "irreparable harm" to the national security of the United States.

On Thursday, US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said in a report that Snowden damaged US national security when he made public a cache of documents about the government’s intelligence programs in 2013.

The Committee claimed that Snowden was not a whistleblower, explaining that he bypassed numerous official channels available to express concerns about US intelligence activities.

Snowden’s revelations have caused a heated national debate about the limits of power of the US federal government and its mass surveillance of Americans. The debate resulted in changing in passing new legislation that ostensibly provide protection from the government’s intrusive practices.

On Wednesday, three groups — the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — called on President Barack Obama to grant Snowden a pardon.