The White House Will Not Pardon Edward Snowden, Despite Your Online Petitions

In case you were still hoping the U.S. government might pardon Edward Snowden for his actions, the Obama administration has a message for you: nope.

On the very same day that Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of thousands of top secret NSA documents in June of 2013, somebody started an online petition asking the White House to pardon him of any crimes he might eventually be charged for.

A few days later, the U.S. government did indeed charge him with espionage. The "We The People" online petition to pardon Snowden quickly amassed more than 100,000 signatures, the threshold that, by the petition's system own rules, triggers a mandatory response.

Now, more than two years later, the White House finally responded with what can be described as a very polite and long-winded way of saying "fuck no."

"He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers—not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime," Lisa Monaco, the President's Advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism was quoted as saying in the response. "Right now, he's running away from the consequences of his actions."

White House responds to the petition to pardon Snowden Kedar PavgiJuly 28, 2015

In her response, Monaco says that Snowden should've spoken out and engaged in "a constructive act of protest" and "accept the consequences of his actions." Instead, Monaco says, Snowden's "dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it."