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Olympics boycott? Speaker Boehner rejects Sen. Graham's Sochi-for-Snowden proposal

Olympics boycott: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is reacting to the possibility that Russia gives temporary asylum to Edward Snowden. Speaker of the House John Boehner rejects the Olympics boycott idea.

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Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during a push for new bipartisan media shield legislation during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, July 17, 2013.
  • By Donna Cassata Associated Press

| Washington

House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday soundly rejected suggestions that the United States boycott the Winter Olympics in Sochi if Russia grants asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

"Why would we want to punish US athletes who've been training for three years to compete in the Olympics over a traitor who can't find a place to call home?" Boehner told reporters at a news conference.

The Ohio Republican was asked about Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham's idea that if Russia provides a safe haven for Snowden, the United States should consider keeping its athletes home during the 2014 Winter Olympics next February.

Boehner said Graham was "dead wrong."

Snowden, who disclosed details about US intelligence surveillance of Internet activity, has applied for temporary asylum in Russia three weeks after arriving at a Moscow airport from Hong Kong. The United States wants Snowden sent home to face prosecution for espionage.

In the 1980s, the United States boycotted the Olympics over Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. The US Olympic Committee said in a statement Wednesday that it strongly opposes the idea that a boycott is in the country's best interest.

"If there are any lessons to be learned from the American boycott of 1980, it is that Olympic boycotts do not work," said committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky. "Our boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games did not contribute to a successful resolution of the underlying conflict. It did, however, deprive hundreds of American athletes, all whom had completely dedicated themselves to representing our nation at the Olympic Games, of the opportunity of a lifetime."

Snowden's fate has roiled already tense US-Russian relations.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said he wouldn't speculate on any boycott of the Olympics, but added that the US agrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Snowden's case needn't and shouldn't harm US-Russian relations.

"It's a broad and important relationship," Carney said. "We want to continue to see that relationship strengthened."

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