Kristian Mark Saucier (born 1986) is a former

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

who was convicted of unauthorized retention of national defense information and sentenced to one year in prison in October 2016 for taking photographs of classified engineering areas of USS ''Alexandria'' (SSN-757), a

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...

, in 2009.Matt Zapotosky
Trump pardons former Navy sailor convicted of retaining submarine pictures in case that drew comparisons to Clinton
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. (March 9, 2018). Retrieved June 1, 2018. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

pardoned Saucier on March 9, 2018.

Early life

Saucier is a native of

Arlington, Vermont Arlington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,457 at the 2020 census. History The town of Arlington was chartered July 28, 1761, by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth, as part of the New Hampshir ...

Crime and conviction

Saucier was a

machinist's mate Machinist's Mate (or MM) is a List of United States Navy ratings, rating in the United States Navy's engineering community. It is non-capitalised as machinist's mate when discussing the generic rating rather than as a proper noun when discussing a ...

on board the submarine USS ''Alexandria'' from September 2007 to March 2012.U.S. Servicemember Who Took Illegal Photos Inside Nuclear Sub, Impeded Investigation, Sentenced to Prison
(press release), U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. (August 19, 2016). Retrieved June 1, 2018.Jennifer Rizzo and Laura Ly

''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

''. (August 19, 2016). Retrieved June 1, 2018. In 2009, Saucier took photographs of classified areas on the submarine while it was moored at

Naval Submarine Base New London Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New L ...

in Connecticut.Wyatt Olson
Trump pardons sailor convicted of photographing sub's nuclear propulsion system
'' Stars and Stripes''. (March 9, 2018). Retrieved June 1, 2018. The photographs showed components of the submarine

nuclear propulsion Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. Many aircraft carriers and submarines currently use uranium fueled nuclear reactors that can provide propulsio ...

system, including "various control panels, a panoramic view of the reactor compartment and a panel that showed the condition and exact location of the submarine at the time the photo was taken." FBI forensics showed that some of the photographs were taken at unusual hours, such as one photograph taken at 4 a.m. and others taken at 1:30 a.m. Personal electronic devices are prohibited aboard U.S. submarines owing to sensitive areas on board. In March 2012, Saucier left his phone at a waste transfer station (dump) in

Hampton, Connecticut Hampton is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The populatio ...

, where the photographs were discovered by a supervisor.Julia Bergman
Trump pardons former Groton sailor in submarine photos case
'' The Day''. (March 9, 2018). Retrieved June 1, 2018. The supervisor contacted a retired Navy officer, who alerted the

Naval Criminal Investigative Service The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary investigative law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate major criminal activities involving the Nav ...

and

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The FBI said that after being interviewed by FBI agents, Saucier destroyed his camera and computer and disposed of their parts. At the time, Saucier held the rank of

petty officer first class Petty officer first class (PO1) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations. Canada Petty officer, 1st class, PO1, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of petty officer 2nd-cla ...

. Saucier was arrested in May 2015 and charged with unlawful retention of national defense information and

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.Cristiano Lima
Trump pardons sailor in submarine photos case
''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

''. (March 9, 2018). Retrieved June 1, 2018. In May 2016, he pleaded guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information. In August 2016, U.S. District Judge

Stefan Underhill Stefan Richard Underhill (born June 9, 1956) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Education Born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1956, after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree ...

sentenced Saucier to one year in federal prison. He was given an other-than-honorable discharge from the Navy.Lindsey Bever
Trump compared a Navy man's crime to Clinton's email scandal. Now that sailor wants a pardon.
''The Washington Post''. (January 26, 2017). Retrieved June 1, 2018. At sentencing, Saucier unsuccessfully argued for probation rather than imprisonment on the basis that

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

was not indicted for her email controversy. Saucier's lawyers acknowledged that the two cases were different: Saucier admitted knowing that what he was doing was illegal. Judge Underhill rejected this argument as weak, but sentenced Saucier to one year in prison (rather than the five to seven years under the

Federal Sentencing Guidelines The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines are rules published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that set out a uniform policy for sentencing individuals and organizations convicted of felonies and serious (Class A) misdemeanors in the Unite ...

) because he determined Saucier to be "fundamentally...a good person" who had done a "beyond stupid" act. Saucier served his sentence at the

Federal Medical Center, Devens The Federal Medical Center, Devens (FMC Devens) is a United States federal prison in Massachusetts for male inmates requiring specialized or long-term medical or mental health care. It is designated as an administrative facility, which means it ha ...

. He was released from prison in September 2017.Ryan Lucas
Trump Pardons Ex-Navy Sailor Sentenced For Photos of Submarine
''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

''. (March 9, 2018). Retrieved June 1, 2018.

Pardon

Saucier’s family and others waged "an aggressive public campaign" for a presidential pardon. He was represented ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

'' by Ronald Daigle. Saucier requested a pardon in 2016 and 2017 but was denied a waiver needed to apply within five years of criminal sentencing. During his 2016 presidential election campaign, then-Republican-candidate

compared Saucier's situation to the

Hillary Clinton email controversy During Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State, her tenure as the United States secretary of state, Hillary Clinton drew controversy by using a private email server for official public communications rather than using official State Depa ...

, asserting that Clinton's treatment was lenient compared with Saucier's. In January 2018, Trump

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

about "sailors pictures on submarine" , which was seen as a reference to Saucier. On February 20, 2018, the Justice Department's

Office of the Pardon Attorney The Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA), part of the United States Department of Justice, assists the president of the United States in his exercise of executive clemency as authorized by Article II, Section 2, of the US Constitution. The office ...

informed Saucier that his pardon request was being processed, despite previously refusing to issue a waiver. In early March 2018, Saucier appeared on ''

Fox & Friends ''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning conservative news and talk program that airs on Fox News and reruns on Fox.Thompson, Ethan, and Jason Mittell. "Fox & Friends: Political Talk." ''How to Watch Television.'' 168-76. Print. It premie ...

'' and argued that he deserved to be pardoned. Trump pardoned Saucier on March 9, 2018. After issuing the pardon, Trump tweeted, "Congratulations to Kristian Saucier, a man who has served proudly in the Navy, on your newly found Freedom. Now you can go out and have the life you deserve!"

Lawsuit

In July 2018, Saucier filed a lawsuit against former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, former

FBI Director The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...

James Comey James Brien Comey Jr. (; born December 14, 1960) is an American lawyer who was the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2013 until Dismissal of James Comey, his termination in May 2017. Comey was a registered Repub ...

, former

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

Loretta Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American attorney who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the ...

, former

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Deputy Director

Andrew McCabe Andrew George McCabe (born March 18, 1968) is an American attorney who served as the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from February 2016 to March 2018 and as the acting Director of the FBI from May 9, 2017, to Augu ...

, and others, claiming that he was selectively prosecuted, claiming that a

double standard A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...

exists that protected

in her email controversy, and seeking $20 million in damages. All of Saucier's claims were dismissed by a federal court by

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

David N. Hurd in February 2019.
Saucier v. U.S. Dep't of Justice
', 1:18-cv-800 (

N.D.N.Y. The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (in case citations, N.D.N.Y.) serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. Appeals from the Northern District of Ne ...

Feb. 13, 2019).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saucier, Kristian Living people 1980s births People from Arlington, Vermont Military personnel from Vermont United States Navy sailors People pardoned by Donald Trump

Early life

Crime and conviction

Pardon

Lawsuit

See also

References

External links