Graham: Obama should consider boycotting Russian Olympics

Washington should consider boycotting Russia's Olympics if Moscow grants asylum to fugitive U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, Sen. Lindsey Graham said. "I would. I would just send the Russians the most unequivocal signal I could send them," the South Carolina Republican told The Hill when asked about the boycott possibility. "It might help, because what they're doing is outrageous," Graham said. "We certainly haven't reset our relationship with Russia in a positive way," he added, referring to a symbolic "reset" button the two countries pressed in March 2009 as part of a "fresh start" in U.S.-Russia relations. "At the end of the day, if they grant this guy asylum, it's a breach of the rule of law as we know it and is a slap in the face to the United States," Graham said. Snowden is charged with espionage for leaking details about U.S. National Security Agency electronic surveillance programs that logged U.S. phone calls and intercepted international Internet communications, with help from U.S. companies. He faces up to 30 years in prison. The former contractor formally requested temporary asylum in Russia Tuesday. His request for temporary, rather than political, asylum requires only an administrative decision by the Russian Federal Migration Service rather than the approval of President Vladimir Putin, a Putin spokesman said. "If we are talking about temporary asylum, this is an issue not for the president but for the Federal Migration Service," Dmitry Peskov told reporters in the Siberian city of Chita. Migration Service Director Konstantin Romodanovsky had no immediate comment on Snowden's application. The New York Times said the technicality distancing Putin from the asylum decision may insulate him somewhat from U.S. pressure, but the newspaper said Putin clearly controls all decisions about Snowden. Putin has said Snowden could potentially stay in Russia, provided he "cease his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners." Snowden, who eventually agreed to that condition, has said he believes his leaks have not hurt U.S. interests. Snowden, 30, has been in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport since his arrival from Hong Kong June 23, Russian officials say. If the Migration Service grants his request, Snowden will be able to live and work in Russia for a year, and may be allowed to renew his status for another year, the Times said. Graham's comments to The Hill made him the first senator to propose linking Russia's handling of Snowden to U.S. participation in the Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 7-23, 2014. Other lawmakers have urged President Obama to respond sternly if Russia offers asylum to Snowden, but they haven't mentioned the Olympics. "There's many things we can do, but I think the experience of canceling the Olympics the last time around wasn't very good," Graham ally Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told The Hill. McCain called for increasing the number of people sanctioned by Washington for ties to alleged Russian human-rights abuses. He also suggested Obama undo plans to scrap a missile-defense shield in Eastern Europe. The United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. The U.S. boycott was followed by a Soviet-led boycott by 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Those countries included East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Cuba. The White House did not immediately comment on Graham's or McCain's remarks. Spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday the administration's "message has been clear and consistent with every government" on Snowden. "Our position is that Mr. Snowden ought to be expelled and returned to the United States and that he should not be allowed to engage in further international travel except as necessary to return to the United States," Carney told reporters. "He is not a human right activist. He is not a dissident. He's accused of leaking classified information," Carney continued. "He's been charged with three felony counts related to the leaking of classified information." The Snowden matter "should not be something that causes long-term problems for U.S.-Russian relations," Carney said, adding Obama still plans to go to St. Petersburg in September to participate in the Group of 20 meeting.