Stuxnet leak source, activists among 273 people Obama commutes and pardons
With less than 72 hours left in office, President Barack Obama has commuted the sentences for 209 people, including Chelsea Manning, and pardoned 64 people, including retired Gen. James Cartwright.
MORE: #ChelseaManning is one of 209 prisoners granted commutation today by Pres #Obamahttps://t.co/PAZlgYx9vUpic.twitter.com/eAHPLeErR1
— RT America (@RT_America) January 17, 2017
Cartwright, who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI about conversations he had with reporters relating to the Stuxnet program, a classified US hacking program that used viruses to attack Iran’s nuclear program starting in 2009. Cartwright was due to be sentenced on Tuesday, but he will receive a pardon before that happens.
#BREAKING#POTUS Obama grants pardon to James Cartwright, 4 star general plead guilty of leaks to media @wusa9pic.twitter.com/aMtTKtH5bW
— Stephanie Wilson (@SWilsonProducer) January 17, 2017
Ret. Marine Gen. James Cartwright, on Obama pardon: 'This action allows me to continue that work as a private citizen. I love this country'
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) January 17, 2017
READ MORE: ‘This is awesome’: Twitter reacts as Obama cuts Chelsea Manning’s sentence
On Tuesday, the Obama administration released a list of pardons that also included baseball legend Willie McCovey, who has been in prison since 1995 for tax evasion, and Oscar Lopez Rivera, who has been in prison since 1981 for being a member of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) a group that fought for Puerto Rican independence.
It will be a blessed day when I can walk and talk with my friend Oscar Lopez in fresh air, far from prison walls: https://t.co/7rjxnVOch4pic.twitter.com/aSNUTomEm6
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) January 17, 2017
To date, President Obama has granted 1,385 commutations, more than any other president in US history, and more than the last 12 presidents combined.
FACT: In commuting the sentences of 209 people today, @POTUS has now granted more commutations than any president in U.S. history. pic.twitter.com/QoQ1i81Y4N
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 17, 2017