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Trump pardons Kristian Saucier - the sailor who took those infamous submarine photos


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By —— Bio and Archives March 12, 2018

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Trump pardons Kristian Saucier - the sailor who took those infamous submarine photos You will, no doubt, remember the story of Kristian Saucier. He was the young Navy sailor who admitted taking a few photos of his submarine so he could show his family what he did in the military. The photos contained some relatively harmless classified information, were never shared with anyone, and led to his prosecution and conviction, his "other than honorable" discharge, and a year in prison. In case you've forgotten the details, here's the report from the Guardian...
A US Navy sailor was sentenced on Friday to a year in prison for taking photos of classified areas inside a nuclear attack submarine while it was in port in Connecticut. Kristian Saucier, of Arlington, Vermont, appeared in federal court in Bridgeport, where a judge also ordered him to serve six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring during a three-year period of supervised release after the prison time. He pleaded guilty in May to unauthorized detention of defense information and had faced five to six years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Saucier admitted to taking six photos of classified areas inside the USS Alexandria in 2009 when it was in Groton and he was a 22-year-old machinist mate on the submarine. The photos showed the nuclear reactor compartment, the auxiliary steam propulsion panel and the maneuvering compartment, prosecutors said. Saucier took the photos knowing they were classified, but did so only to be able to show his family and future children what he did while he was in the Navy, his lawyers said.
At roughly the same time Saucier was being sentenced, James Comey was busy listing Hillary Clinton's many, many, crimes related to the mishandling of classified material. For reasons that still aren't completely clear, he refused to prosecute her. The irony was not lost on conservatives, who immediately wondered why Mrs. Clinton was getting a free pass while Saucier was being hammered - for far less egregious crimes.
There were immediate calls for Saucier to be pardoned, but then-President Obama ignored them all. Fortunately, this is yet another Obama-era policy that Donald Trump has now reversed. This weekend, Saucier got his pardon. From CBS News:
The White House announced Friday that President Donald Trump has pardoned a Navy sailor who took photos of classified areas inside a submarine and served a year in federal prison. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Kristian Saucier was pardoned by Mr. Trump and the president was "appreciative" of his service to the nation. "He has been recognized by his fellow service members for his dedication skill and patriotic spirit," Sanders said.
Trump tweeted about the pardon on Saturday: Honestly, this should have happened a lot sooner. Saucier should never have gone to jail in the first place. Still, it's still nice to see that he's finally off the hook and his record has been cleared.



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