Officials deny report that U.S. preparing to release Israeli spy

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters

U.S. officials on Friday denied a Wall Street Journal report that the Obama administration was considering early release for Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer convicted of spying for Israel.

The Justice Department said Pollard must serve his full 30-year sentence. It stressed that he has long been eligible for consideration for parole in November but insisted that the administration has no say in how that process unfolds.

One U.S. official rejected the notion that Pollard's release would have anything to do with trying to smooth tense relations with Israel over President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fiercely opposes.

The Journal reported that some U.S. officials are pushing for Pollard's release in a matter of weeks, while others expect it could take months, possibly at his parole consideration date in November.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/07/24/usa-spy-pollard-idINKCN0PY2AT20150724

[Princess Turandot]

1. According to the Wikipedia article on him...

At the time of Pollard's sentencing there was a rule that mandated parole for federal inmates under a life sentence who serve 30 years in prison unless a parole board determines they have seriously violated prison regulations or there is a "reasonable probability" they will commit another crime upon release.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard

Although he wasn't sentenced until 1987, he was in jail since his arrest on November 21, 1985, when he and his then wife unsuccessfully tried to gain entrance to the Israeli embassy. That must be why they say that he is up for parole in 11/2015 (vs. needing a commutation of a life sentence.)

[George II]

2. Well that's certainly a 180 degree turn from....

...all the wringing of hands and gnashing of tears from this afternoon.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. Not "the Obama administration." He's up for parole in November.

[MADem]

4. It's not early release--Carnival Cruz is trying to front like he has something to do with it.

His November release date has been on the Bureau of Prisons webpage since he went into prison.

They can keep him here, on parole, for fifteen years if they'd like, or they can just dump him at the Israeli Embassy and tell them to get him out of the country ASAP. He has Israeli citizenship now--he has not yet renounced his US citizenship AFAIK.