Just 44 days before the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States, cryptocurrency players are calling on Donald Trump to use his power to pardon the founder of the Silk Road, Ross Olbrecht.
In a recent tweet from Jason Williams, Morgan Creek Digital co-founder pleaded with Trump to do the right thing by pardoning Olbrecht as well as whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Peter McCormack of the What Bitcoin Did podcast followed suit a few days later, adding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to a possible amnesty list.
The three - Snowden, Albrecht and Assange - are among the many names made by conservative advisers, critics and commentators as Trump serves the rest of his presidency. Ulbrecht, founder of the dark internet marketplace Silk Road, is currently serving two life sentences without parole after he was found guilty of federal charges of money laundering, computer hacking and conspiracy to smuggle drugs.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor turned whistleblower, left the United States in 2013 and was granted asylum in Russia. The Ministry of Justice charged him with violating the 1917 Espionage Act and stealing government property. He has since stated that he will apply for Russian citizenship.
Despite being an Australian citizen, Assange has faced charges from more than one national authority, including allegations of sexual assault in Sweden. In 2019, the United States charged him with violating the 1917 Espionage Act related to the release of documents provided by US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning on WikiLeaks. Assange is currently in a UK prison awaiting an extradition decision to stand trial in the US.
According to the Supreme Court ruling, the US president's authority to pardon someone is unlimited - although this ruling is being questioned in the media amid rumors that Trump He is considering pardoning himself preemptively before leaving the White House on January 20. In 2017, it pardoned, reduced, or revoked the convictions of 45 people accused of federal crimes.
Since there is no limit to the number of federal pardons Trump can issue, deciding who will receive one can be simply a response to a public outcry or personal preference. Trump said in August he would begin considering pardoning Snowden, while a lawyer for Assange claimed that a former Republican congressman offered the WikiLeaks founder a presidential pardon as well. While Snowden is a potential recipient of the pardon, he also called for Assange to obtain a pardon in place of himself.
without saying what ...
