The White House announced that President Donald Trump has pardoned the former Navy sailor who took photos inside a nuclear submarine and served a year in prison, Fox News reported Friday.
BREAKING NEWS: President @realDonaldTrump pardons former @USNavy sailor imprisoned for taking photos on nuclear submarine, @WhiteHouse sayshttps://t.co/2JQ4pCJLIr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 9, 2018
Kristian Saucier received a 1-year jail sentence for mishandling classified information after taking six photos inside the USS Alexandria, a nuclear submarine, which he was aboard from 2007 to 2012. Saucier served his sentence and was released from prison this past October.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently said it was re-examining the pardon comes less than a year after Saucier received a letter denying his pardon request due to it not meeting the right criteria, including having a five-year waiting period, Fox reported.
During his Presidential campaign, President Donald Trump slammed federal officials for going after Saucier but not punishing Hillary Clinton for her use of a private server to handle classified emails.
Due to an other-than-honorable discharge, Saucier doesn’t receive veterans benefits.
His discharge came after he took six pictures of classified areas inside the USS Alexandria at the age of 22, while working as a machinist’s mate at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
Saucier took several photos of the reactor compartment. Upon learning he was in trouble, he destroyed a laptop, a memory card and a camera to ensure no one saw the photos.
Saucier tried using Hillary Clinton’s use of classified information to his advantage by giving it as an example after Clinton wasn’t punished.
