Former U.S. Secretary of State Shultz Calls on Obama to Free Pollard

Former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz today sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that Jonathan Pollard be released from prison (the full text of the letter appears below; an image of the original letter is attached).

George Shultz served as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982-1989. Prior to that, Shultz served as U.S. Secretary of Labor and as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He is currently the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Jonathan Pollard, who just began his 26th year in federal prison, has repeatedly expressed his remorse publicly and in private in letters to many Presidents and others. His health has deteriorated significantly during his two-and-a-half decades in prison.

Pollard’s life sentence is grossly disproportionate when compared to the sentences of others who have spied for allied nations. In addition, countless elected officials, individuals from the national intelligence arena and the legal world, as well as religious and community leaders, have described Pollard’s sentence as excessive, and have called for his sentence to be commuted.

The following is the text of the letter to President Obama:

January 11, 2011

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to join with many others in urging you to consider that Jonathan Pollard has now paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from prison.

I am impressed that the people who are best informed about the classified material he passed to Israel, former CIA Director James Woolsey and former Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini, favor his release.

I find the letter you received from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey of the Bush administration particularly compelling.

With my respect,

Sincerely yours,

George P. Shultz