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Zynga founder reportedly asked Obama to pardon Edward Snowden

Zynga founder reportedly asked Obama to pardon Edward Snowden

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mark pincus
mark pincus

President Obama's meeting with a group of leading tech executives yesterday didn't go the way the White House wanted it to when the discussion turned from problems with Healthcare.gov to concerns over NSA surveillance. And according to CNN, one participant in the meeting brought up a subject that the White House was likely even less eager to discuss: pardoning Edward Snowden. It was Zynga founder Mark Pincus who reportedly made the suggestion to Obama, who responded that he could not do it.

Obama reportedly said he couldn't pardon Snowden

The Washington Post is also reporting that the exchange took place, though it doesn't identify who made the suggestion. For now, it appears, the White House would still prefer to try Snowden should he ever return to US soil. Though there's been plenty of government resistance to information revealed by his leaks, this week has brought about signs of potential change, including a court ruling calling the NSA's mass metadata collection unconstitutional and the NSA review panel recommending that the agency stop its collection as well.

Other tech leaders at the White House meeting yesterday included Tim Cook, Marissa Mayer, and Eric Schmidt. Though early reports of the meeting detailed the focus on surveillance, Obama's response to the questions and concerns largely haven't been detailed.