A former United States submariner is planning to sue former President Obama and former FBI Director James Comey for what he sees as unequal protection under the law. Kristian Saucier, who was pardoned by President Trump in March, believes that his case, which hinged on his possession of classified material, was handled in a far more aggressive manner than the case of failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Saucier, a former machinist mate aboard the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Alexandria, took pictures of a classified area inside the sub and kept them on his cellphone. The photographs, which included a panoramic view of the reactor and control panels, were found by a supervisor in 2012, which led to an FBI investigation. After being interviewed by the FBI, Saucier allegedly destroyed his phone, camera, and computer (just as Clinton destroyed much of the evidence against her). In May of 2016, Saucier plead guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information. In August, he was sentenced to a year in federal prison.
Saucier and his attorneys argue that his case was handled in a particularly forceful way for political reasons. “They interpreted the law in my case to say it was criminal but they didn’t prosecute Hillary Clinton,” Saucier said on Monday. “Hillary is still walking free. Two guys on my ship did the same thing and they weren’t treated as criminals. We want them to correct the wrong…. My case was usually something handled by military courts.”
Clinton, who kept classified national security documents on a private e-mail server, was not charged with a crime, with former FBI Director Comey merely calling the use of the private server “extremely careless.”
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“We’ll highlight the differences in the way Hillary Clinton was prosecuted and how my client was prosecuted,” said Ronald Daigle, Saucier’s attorney. “We’re seeking to cast a light on this to show that there’s a two-tiered justice system and we want it corrected.”
Then-candidate Trump thought the same thing during the campaign, as he often compared Saucier’s situation to that of Clinton. After being elected, President Trump tweeted, “Crooked Hillary’s top aide, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailor’s pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept. must finally act? Also, on Comey and others.”
Saucier, who lives in Vermont, has stated that his conviction led to many personal problems, including the repossession of multiple vehicles and the foreclosure of his home. The felony on his record and his “other than honorable discharge” made it harder for him to find work.
After an aggressive campaign spearheaded by Saucier’s wife and legal team, President Trump pardoned Saucier in March of this year, tweeting, “Congratulations to Kristian Saucier, a man who served proudly in the Navy, on your newly found Freedom. Now you can go out and have the life you deserve!”
Saucier reports that, since his pardon, his life has begun to turn around. He now works for an industrial boiler company. “Things are starting to go in the right direction,” Saucier said. “I work with a group of really great people. I get to use my skill set.”
Although his life is getting better, Saucier is still vexed by what he considers a two-tiered and politically motivated system of justice, which targets political opponents for relatively minor offenses and allows politically connected offenders such as Hillary Clinton to walk free.
Saucier cited the case of Dinesh D’Souza, who was pardoned by President Trump last week. D’Souza, a conservative filmmaker who has produced documentaries critical of both Obama and Clinton, was found to have committed a minor campaign finance violation. He was convicted for a felony and sentenced to eight months in a halfway house and five years’ probation.
“The Obama administration singled out Dinesh for things most people don’t even get charged for,” Saucier said. “President Trump noticed that my career was exemplary and that I didn’t deserve what happened to me.”
The vendetta-like prosecution and targeting of political opponents by the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service that occurred during the Obama administration is probably one of the most underreported political scandals in history. People such as James Comey, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, and Lois Lerner should be held accountable for the political hatchet jobs done in the name of former President Obama.
And Obama should be held accountable, too.
