Ilhan Omar Requests Pardon for Drone-Strike Whistleblower
While prosecutors argue that Daniel Hale endangered Americans with his leaks, Omar argues that the information exposed the legal and moral problems of the U.S. drone program.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is asking President Joe Biden to pardon a former Air Force intelligence analyst who exposed secrets about drone warfare in Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post. Last month, Daniel Hale pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria to violating the Espionage Act and was sentenced in July to 45 months in prison for leaking classified documents to the Intercept.
Hale said he felt compelled to speak out about the immorality of the drone program after realizing he had helped kill Afghan civilians, including a small child. One document he leaked showed that during a five-month operation in Afghanistan, nearly 90 percent of the people killed were not the intended targets. “I take extremely seriously the prohibition on leaking classified information, but I believe there are several aspects of Mr. Hale’s case that merit a full pardon,” Omar wrote in the letter sent to Biden on Thursday morning. “The information, while politically embarrassing to some, has shone a vital light on the legal and moral problems of the drone program and informed the public debate on an issue that has for too many years remained in the shadows.” Omar called Hale’s letter to the court “profoundly moral” and urged Biden to consider either a full pardon or commutation of his sentence.
