Let's take a look at tweets discussing presidential pardons for three folks who've been in the news lately: Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort. #Flynnvestigation #ASeriesOfManafortunateEvents #IPreferLeonardCohen
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
We downloaded 10 days worth of tweets containing #PardonCohen/"pardon Cohen", #PardonFlynn/"pardon Flynn", and #PardonManafort/"pardon Manafort". Flynn by far has the most activity, followed by Manafort, with Cohen bringing up the rear. 
Retweet networks for each pardon dataset. The Flynn tweets form a single network consisting mostly of right-wing accounts supporting a pardon, while the Cohen and Manafort diagrams show multiple independent networks and many are left-wing accounts opposing pardons.
We took random samples of 333 accounts from each dataset and checked the media sources used by each. There's a stark contrast: the accounts discussing pardons for Cohen or Manafort largely link MSM, whereas the Flynn set link mostly right-wing conspiracy sites.
A similar pattern emerges in the hashtags used-the #PardonFlynn set is notably more right-leaning and contains a greater proportion of #QAnon hashtags.
Overall, our interpretation is that the Flynn pardon discussion consists mostly of his supporters promoting an actual pardon, while the Cohen/Manafort traffic is largely skeptical discussion from the left. We're open to other theories/observations.
