Putin calls U.S. treatment of admitted agent Butina an outrage

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

BEIJING, April 27 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday made his first comments on a U.S. court sentencing admitted Russian foreign agent Maria Butina to 18 months in prison, calling her treatment a travesty of justice.

Butina was sentenced on Friday after the Siberia native, her voice breaking with emotion, begged a judge for mercy and expressed remorse for conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republicans.

Speaking in Beijing, Putin said the sentence looked like an attempt by U.S. law enforcement and judicial officials to save face.

"It's an outrage," Putin told reporters.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-calls-us-treatment-of-admitted-agent-butina-an-outrage/ar-BBWlI8V?li=BBnbcA1

If you sweet talk him Trump might pardon her.

[RHMerriman]

1. Let's trade her for Snowden...

Let's trade her for Snowden...

He'll enjoy Leavenworth, I'm sure.

[JonLP24]

3. She did more harm to the US than Snowden who informed the public

[RHMerriman]

5. The Russian is a Russian citizen

The Russian is a Russian citizen; Snowden is an American who, once upon a time, volunteered for service in the US military and swore an oath to protect the US; he then volunteered for the CIA and after that, for an NSA security contractor. He was never drafted or forced to serve against his own wishes in any of these positions.

He then chose to take the actions he did regarding disclosing secure communications.

If Snowden believes what he did is justifiable, he'd have stayed in the US and argued it out. He did not, instead fleeing to the protection of a hostile foreign power.

You may excuse that, but it's espionage and treason by any definition. It is also in stark contrast to Americans who chose to fight for what they believed was right, often at great cost and even risk to their lives - Hugh Thompson comes to mind:

[link:|]

So does Daniel Ellsberg:

[link:|]

[JonLP24]

8. Daniel Ellsburg stands with Snowden keep in mind Nixon tried to use the Espionage Act on Ellsburg

I could do a long post but I don't think he should come back as long as the Espionage Act is law which is a bad law that was never used to go after spies.

It was signed by Woodrow Wilson that was liberally used by J. Edgar Hoover to go after lefties. Ever heard of "shouting fire in a theater"?


---


Many of the jailed had appealed their convictions based on the U.S. constitutional right to the freedom of speech. The Supreme Court disagreed. The Espionage Act limits on free speech were ruled constitutional in the U.S. Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States (1919).[36] Schenck, an anti-war Socialist, had been convicted of violating the Act when he sent anti-draft pamphlets to men eligible for the draft. Although Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes joined the Court majority in upholding Schenck's conviction in 1919, he also introduced the theory that punishment in such cases must be limited to such political expression that constitutes a "clear and present danger" to the government action at issue. Holmes' opinion is the origin of the notion that speech equivalent to "falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater" is not protected by the First Amendment.

Justice Holmes began to doubt his decision due to criticism from free speech advocates. He also met the Harvard Law professor Zechariah Chafee and discussed his criticism of Schenck.[35][37]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917

I believe original parts of it were scaled back as unconstitutional. Long story short Nixon tried to use it on a whistleblower but broke into his doctor's office leading the judge to throw out the case. Bush dusted off the old law to go after whistleblowers which Obama continued as well as Trump with Reality Winner.

Here is what Ellsburg says from the link above.

Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said, "the current state of whistleblowing prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes a truly fair trial wholly unavailable to an American who has exposed classified wrongdoing," and that "legal scholars have strongly argued that the US Supreme Court – which has never yet addressed the constitutionality of applying the Espionage Act to leaks to the American public – should find the use of it overbroad and unconstitutional in the absence of a public interest defense."[123] Professor at American University Washington College of Law and national security law expert Stephen Vladeck has said that the law “lacks the hallmarks of a carefully and precisely defined statutory restriction on speech.”[122] Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said, “basically any information the whistleblower or source would want to bring up at trial to show that they are not guilty of violating the Espionage Act the jury would never hear. It’s almost a certainty that because the law is so broadly written that they would be convicted no matter what.”[122] Attorney and former whistleblower Jesselyn Radack notes that the law was enacted "35 years before the word 'classification' entered the government's lexicon" and believes that "under the Espionage Act, no prosecution of a non-spy can be fair or just."[124] She added that mounting a legal defense to the Espionage Act is estimated to "cost $1 million to $3 million."[124]

[RHMerriman]

9. Ellsberg surrendered when he was charged and went to court; the

Ellsberg surrendered when he was charged and went to court; the judge eventually dismissed all charges against Ellsberg and his co-defendant, Russo.

Neither man fled to Hanoi, did they?

Snowden is demonstrably a coward and, arguably, a traitor.

You really want to defend him?

Ellsberg and Russo were brave men who did what they thought was right and faced the consequences.

Hugh Thompson and his crew - Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn - turned their weapons on fellow soldiers and risked their lives to prevent the massacre of even more innocents at My Lai, and then testified to the military and before Congress about the atrocities. They were men who truly deserve being called heroes.

Snowden is a coward and a traitor.

[JonLP24]

10. Because Nixon had CIA goons break into his doctor's office

I made my point regarding the Espionage Act. You can read how problematic it is which makes it difficult to defend yourself. I think Trump behaves in a treasonous way as well as Republicans especially when they brought Netanyahu to bash our elected President's policy in the House of Congress.

[RHMerriman]

11. Ellsberg, when he surrendered at the courthouse:

Ellsberg, when he surrendered at the courthouse:

"I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision."

[link:https://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/Events-of-1971/The-Pentagon-Papers|]

Ellsberg had the courage of his convictions.

Snowden is a fucking coward.

[JonLP24]

13. Snowden would come back if they refrain from charging him with the Espionage Act

He gave to reporters with the Guardian unlike Wikileaks in Hong Kong and he had a legal right to seek Asylum. I think he ended up stuck with Russia.

United States had never extradited any Russian criminal who had taken asylum in USA, hence Snowden's extradition would have been unprecedented. Snowden had not committed a crime as per Russian law.[1]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden_asylum_in_Russia

[RHMerriman]

14. Says who? He's a coward, who has nothing more in terms of principles than

Says who? The suspect?

He's a coward, who has nothing more in terms of principles than Christopher Boyce.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Hey Vlad?

[benld74]

4. Putin acts all outraged in public

In private ALL that have gone against him

Simply disappear
or die in situations that can only happen in Bourne movies

[Wounded Bear]

6. Guess we could have followed Putin's playbook and just poisoned her...

[rusty fender]

7. William Barr agrees with Putin on this

Barr is an out-in-the-open Russian asset

[jpak]

12. Then give back the Crimea to the Ukraine

and apologize for your nerve gas attack against our ally UK.

If not

Please fuck off.

[mitch96]

15. "Putin calls U.S. treatment of Butina an outrage"

Lets see, that's on page 9 of the "how to respond" play book, yes?
m

[flotsam]

16. Let's show these clowns we can play in the N. Korea/Russian league

Let's take the spy and beat her head until she is a drooling dying shell of herself. Then release her to Russia with a 2 million dollar bill for "In cell communication therapy".

[EleanorR]

17. She'll be here to help the NY AG with their investigation of the NRA

Maybe she get some time shaved off her sentence for her cooperation.