Posted on 12/20/2020 2:04:29 AM PST by RandFan
The expectation that President Donald Trump will issue a flurry of pardons in his final days in office has sparked a contentious discussion among congressional Republicans over whether former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden deserves one.
Snowden, who has been living in exile in Russia for several years now, is accused of espionage and theft of government property in the United States after he leaked American intelligence secrets in 2013. If he returns home, Snowden could face a decades-long prison sentence.
In recent days, some Republicans have publicly split over whether Snowden is a traitor or a whistleblower, illustrating the ideological divide between lawmakers who vigorously defend the surveillance-state legacy of George W. Bush and Trump acolytes who harbor suspicions about the so-called "deep state" and what they see as its infringement on civil liberties.
Adding to the urgency is the unlikelihood that the incoming Biden administration would grant Snowden a pardon, despite support from some Democrats and high-profile human rights groups.
"Snowden is no traitor. He is a true whistleblower who was trying to expose those like (former Director of National Intelligence James) Clapper who used Deep State powers in secret to go after Americans. Snowden should be pardoned," argued Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in an op-ed published in The Federalist Thursday.
The Obama administration had maintained that Snowden's disclosures harmed national security and insisted upon his return to the US for trial. Serving as Obama's vice president, Joe Biden in 2013 asked Ecuador "to please reject" Snowden's request for asylum. And in its final days, the Obama White House had rejected a petition from more than a million supporters to pardon Snowden.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
I hope Trump pardons Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, plus anyone like Paul Manafort who is in prison for basically associating with the Trump campaign....
He should totally declassify everything to do with the Russian Investigation....without redaction.
Pardon him, D. And many more.
Didn’t view the video, but I agree with the title and description. He should go wild with pardons and other things.
Hell full pardon to G Gordon Liddy too.
But none for his brother or his drug addled son.
Can I assume that the division is along the same lines as those GOP members that DID & DID NOT stand behind their GOP President when the election was stolen from him?
Screw the GOP. Pardon anybody you want to, Mr. President.
since he didn’t get time to drain the swamp he should drop napalm on the swamp before he leaves. Declassify everything related to the Russia Hoax, voter fraud, the Big Tech, Big Media, Dem alliance as well, and Chinese spy operations and influence in the US and the rest of the West.
I am reading “A man called Intrepid” about William Stephenson and WWII. In part, it describes the role of communications intelligence in winning that war.
Snowden exposed far more than just the illegal monitoring of U.S. citizens. He also gave away much of our ability to legally monitor true enemies.
If members of the deep state are against the pardons, then it should be done.
Declassify the JFK stuff and every other nasty CIA incursion into domestic affairs.
Pssst CNN he doesn’t have to ask anyone to do it pimp your BS report to to another issue maybe your UFO’s stories.
Tarl’s clip runs for about 10 minutes. An easy view.
Some freepers may not agree with what all of Tarl is suggesting, but breaking the toys where possible seems like a great idea.
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