US presidential candidate Gary Johnson indicated that he might pardon several key whistleblowers and crypto-anarchists.
Johnson, the nominee for the Libertarian Party, said he would consider pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and would “look seriously at” pardoning NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Wikileaks collaborator Chelsea Manning.
While Johnson is a third-party candidate, who traditionally do not perform well in national elections, this year the situation is very different. He is polling ever closer to 15% which nationally is the requirement to be included in the national debates alongside the candidates of the two major parties.
Additionally, he has scored favorable inclinations from several powerful major party players, including the 2016 second-finisher Ted Cruz, former governor Jeb Bush, and the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
By far the most internet freedom-friendly US candidate
Johnson is the only US presidential candidate in 2016 who has indicated that he would be willing to pardon Edward Snowden.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have supported harsh consequences for Snowden’s leaks (Trump calling him a “traitor” and even calling for his execution), and Bernie Sanders, while acknowledging the role he played in educating the public, still thinks he should be punished.
Rand Paul expressed more sympathy towards Snowden and his motivations than his colleagues, but still supported a “light prison sentence” for breaking the law.
The Green Party’s Jill Stein, currently polling 4th in the US presidential race, has a stance similar to Johnson, even saying that Snowden would be awarded a position in her cabinet.
Johnson is the only major candidate accepting Bitcoin donations
Gary Johnson’s campaign accepts Bitcoin donations, the only major candidate to do so. Of the top four highest-polling candidates, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Jill Stein still only accept traditional donation options.
While several candidates have accepted Bitcoin recently, only Rand Paul, who was one of the first Republican candidates to announce running for president (and was briefly the frontrunner) in the 2016 US presidential election, accepted Bitcoin donations.