--- title: Edward Snowden to President Barack Obama: Give Me a Pardon description: Edward Snowden argued in a new interview that his massive leak of NSA surveillance activities was "morally right" canonical: https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-13T14:23:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:09:41.555Z article:section: Politics og:title: Edward Snowden to President Obama: Give Me a Pardon og:description: "It seems these were necessary things, these were vital things" og:url: https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a3066845fa97b4/6988a5c12dce0107329eaa03/gettyimages-185938267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: US-INTELLIGENCE-DIPLOMACY-PROTEST og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Edward Snowden to President Obama: Give Me a Pardon twitter:description: "It seems these were necessary things, these were vital things" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a3066845fa97b4/6988a5c12dce0107329eaa03/gettyimages-185938267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Edward Snowden to President Obama: Give Me a Pardon > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 13, 2016 2:23 PM UTC  Demonstrators hold placards supporting former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden during a protest against government surveillance on October 26, 2013 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators hold placards supporting former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden during a protest against government surveillance on October 26, 2013 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 13, 2016 2:23 PM UTC [Edward Snowden](http://time.com/4062552/snowden-plea-offer-interview/) argued in [a new interview](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/13/edward-snowden-why-barack-obama-should-grant-me-a-pardon?CMP=twt%5Fgu) that his massive leak of NSA surveillance activities was “not only morally right” but also “left citizens better off,” as he called on President Obama to [grant him a pardon](http://time.com/4488445/aclu-amnesty-obama-snowden-pardon/) before he leaves office in January. Speaking to [_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/13/edward-snowden-why-barack-obama-should-grant-me-a-pardon?CMP=twt%5Fgu) via a video link from Moscow where he is in exile, the former NSA contractor said that when assessing the consequences of his disclosures, it should be clear that people had benefitted. “Yes, there are laws on the books that say one thing, but that is perhaps why the pardon power exists—for the exceptions, for the things that may seem unlawful in letters on a page but when we look at them morally, when we look at them ethically, when we look at the results, it seems these were necessary things, these were vital things,” he said. Snowden has been charged in the U.S. with violations of the Espionage Act for revealing classified information, though Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder and others have said they welcome the debate fueled by the leaks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/"},"headline":"Edward Snowden to President Obama: Give Me a Pardon","datePublished":"2016-09-13T14:23:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:09:41.555Z","description":"\"It seems these were necessary things, these were vital things\"","url":"https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/","keywords":["National Security","Edward Snowden"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a3066845fa97b4/6988a5c12dce0107329eaa03/gettyimages-185938267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a3066845fa97b4/6988a5c12dce0107329eaa03/gettyimages-185938267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-INTELLIGENCE-DIPLOMACY-PROTEST","caption":"US-INTELLIGENCE-DIPLOMACY-PROTEST","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4489204/edward-snowden-president-obama-pardon/","name":"Edward Snowden to President Obama: Give Me a Pardon"}}]}] ```