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January 17, 2017

White House: "Stark Difference" Between Chelsea Manning, Ed Snowden
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And the Obama administration signaled Friday it might be open to
commuting the sentence of U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, while
appearing to close the door to a pardon for NSA whistleblower Edward
Snowden. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters there
was a "stark difference" between the two cases.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest: "There are some important differences,
including the scale of the crime, the crimes that were committed, and
the consequences of their crimes. Obviously, the-as Chelsea Manning has
acknowledged, and as we have said many times, the release of the
information that she provided to Wiki Leaks was damaging to national
security. But the disclosures by Edward Snowden were far more serious
and far more dangerous."

On Friday, a campaign supporting Edward Snowden delivered a petition
with more than 1 million signatures to the White House demanding a
pardon. Meanwhile, NBC News reported last week that Chelsea Manning is
on a "short-list" for a commutation.


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