Former Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano rejected the idea of clemency for Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor whom the Obama administration has charged with theft of government property and unauthorized disclosure of defense secrets. “Snowden has exacted quite a bit of damage and did it in a way that violated the law,” Napolitano said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.” I think he’s committed crimes and I think that the damage we'll see now and we'll see it for years to come.” She added “from where I sit today, I would not put clemency on the table at all…..I would rule it out.” Snowden, whose revelations about NSA surveillance have rocked U.S. intelligence agencies, is now in Russia where he sought refuge last summer. A recent New York Times editorial called for clemency or a lenient plea bargain for Snowden, citing what it called “the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed.”
