Sailor pardoned by Trump plans to sue Obama, Comey over unequal protection compared to Hillary

Kristian Saucier, the former Navy sailor pardoned by President Donald Trump for taking photos on a nuclear submarine, plans to file a lawsuit against former President Barack Obama and former FBI Director James Comey over what he says was a mishandling of his case.

What's the background?

Saucier served in the Navy as a machinist’s mate on the USS Alexandria from 2007 to 2012.

He served a year in prison as a result of a 2016 conviction on a felony charge of unauthorized possession and retention of national defense information after taking photographs inside a nuclear submarine in 2009.

According to Fox News, Saucier repeatedly said he recognized that he had made a mistake when he took the photographs to show his family the setting in which he worked.

He was released to his Vermont home in September. The former serviceman remained under house arrest after being released and received an “other-than-honorable” discharge from the Navy.

Trump pardoned Saucier in March.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump criticized the way Saucier's case was handled, and would often cite the case as stark contrast to the handling of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email controversy.

What's happening now?

Saucier and his legal team are planning to sue Obama and other members of his administration — including Comey and the Justice Department — for what they say was unequal protection under the law.

Saucier's attorney, Ronald Daigle, told Fox News on Monday that he will sue for the improper handling of Saucier's case and compared it to the handling of Hillary Clinton's private email server scandal which occurred while she served as secretary of state.

Clinton was never charged over the scandal, and the case was handled far more leniently when compared to that of Saucier and the submarine photos, Daigle said.

"We’ll highlight the differences in the way Hillary Clinton was prosecuted and how my client was prosecuted," Daigle explained. "We’re seeking to cast a light on this to show that there’s a two-tier justice system, and we want it to be corrected."

Saucier told the outlet, "[The Justice Department] interpreted the law in my case to say it was criminal, but they didn’t prosecute Hillary Clinton. Hillary is still walking free. Two guys on my ship did the same thing and weren’t treated as criminals. We want them to correct the wrong."

"My case was usually something handled by military courts," Saucier added. "They used me as an example because of [the backlash over] Hillary Clinton."

Anything else?

Following his felony conviction, Saucier worked as a garbage collector to support his family prior to his pardon.

Trump's pardon changed everything — Saucier now works on engineering projects for an industrial boiler company, according to Fox News.

"Things are starting to go in the right direction," Saucier told the outlet. "I work with a group of really great people, I get to use my skills set."

He added, "With a pardon there’s no magic wand that that gets waved and makes everything right. But I try to stay positive and look forward."