Hartford, Conn.
An attorney for Kristian Saucier, who is serving a one-year prison sentence, said he was encouraged by President Donald Trump’s national security adviser to seek a pardon. Trump has said he is reviewing the case.
Saucier pleaded guilty last year to unauthorized detention of defense information for taking the photos inside the USS Alexandria when it was in Groton, Conn., in 2009. In pleading for leniency, he argued the prosecution was driven by sensitivity about classified information amid the scandal involving Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“The Justice Department at that time was under pressure to do something,” his attorney Ronald Daigle Jr. said. “So he got prosecuted for it. I don’t think it’s fair because she didn’t get prosecuted for anything.”
Saucier has said he merely wanted service mementos, but federal prosecutors said he was a disgruntled sailor who put national security at risk by taking photos showing details of the submarine’s propulsion system and reactor compartment and then obstructed the investigation by destroying a laptop and camera. Prosecutors also rejected comparisons to Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.
After Trump’s election, Daigle discussed the case in an hour-long November meeting inside Trump Tower with Michael Flynn, the president’s national security adviser, who encouraged him to file a formal pardon request, Daigle said. In an interview last week with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who had previously had Saucier’s mother on his show, Trump was asked about a possible pardon and said he was reviewing the case.
“I think it’s very unfair in light of what’s happened with other people,” Trump said.
