White House Petition To Pardon Edward Snowden Gains Over 100K Signatures

For all his critics, National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden apparently has just as many fans. An online petition asking the Obama administration to pardon Snowden for his information leak is rapidly amassing signatures, and has already gained enough support to elicit a White House response.

A petition posted on Whitehouse.gov, first created June 9, calls on President Obama and the U.S. government to pardon "national hero" Edward Snowden. As of Tuesday morning the petition has garnered 117,316 signatures.

"Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs," states the petition.  

White House policy is to respond to any petition that gets 100,000 signatures within 30 days. Snowden's petition crossed that threshold within two weeks.

The "We The People" platform on Whitehouse.gov was designed as a way for Americans to make their voice heard by the U.S. government. It is a platform where individuals can create and sign petitions that call for action by the federal government on a range of issues. If a petition gathers enough signatures, it will be reviewed by White House staff and receive an official response, according to the site.

However, it is noted that "to avoid the appearance of improper influence," the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.

As such, it is uncertain if the Obama administration will respond to the Snowden petition. It's also unknown how long a response might take, due to the international manhunt for Snowden, which is causing tensions between the United States and several members of the international community, and the ongoing criminal investigation surrounding him.

Mashable.com reports that on Friday night, U.S. prosecutors had filed a criminal complaint against Snowden in which they detailed the charges against the former NSA contractor. The 30-year-old is accused of espionage, theft and conversion of government property.

Snowden, who was hiding out in Hong Kong for the past two weeks, has reportedly flown the coop to Russia as he continues to duck U.S. extradition orders. Though the Russian government has claimed it isn't aiding Snowden, saying it only learned of his travel plans through the media, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov outright rejected U.S. requests to extradite Snowden back to America, calling such actions "some sort of conspiracy." President Vladimir Putin further distanced Russia from Snowden, explaining that because Snowden was currently staying in the transit hall at a Moscow airport, and thus has not crossed the border into Russia, he's free to go anywhere he pleases. 

According to various media reports, Snowden intends to travel from his current whereabouts to Cuba. From there he would likely continue on to Ecuador, a country that is currently in the process of considering his request for asylum, and already harbors Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in its embassy in the U.K.