Weiner Wants Pollard Clemency

JTA - August 10, 2004

A New York congressman called for clemency for Jonathan Pollard.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) wrote President Bush last week, on Pollard's birthday, asking him to grant the convicted spy clemency. "Mr. Pollard did commit a serious crime and he deserved to be punished for his action," Weiner wrote. "However, after reviewing the facts of the case and receiving multiple classified briefings on this matter, I believe that he has served a sentence that far exceeds the appropriate term for the crime he has committed."

Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst, pled guilty to spying for Israel in 1986, after securing a plea bargain from the prosecution for a reduced sentence. Instead, the judge under pressure from the Reagan administration threw out the agreement and sentenced Pollard to life.

See Weiner's Letter to President Bush