Thread by @ggreenwald

If Trump follows through on a pardon of @Snowden, it'd be a huge victory against CIA/FBI/NSA abuses.

Everyone from @RandPaul, @MattGaetz & @TulsiGabbard to @ACLU, @BernieSanders & @NYTimes have advocated this.

The only ones angry would be Brennan, Clapper, Comey & Susan Rice.

For those who still can't comprehend why Trump twice said he was strongly considering a pardon of Snowden, it's because -- as he's explains -- he feels personally aggrieved by the precise abuses of power that Snowden risked his liberty to expose.

nypost.com/2020/08/13/tru…

Snowden -- being Snowden -- has used his platform to urge a pardon of Assange, which is vital for the same reasons and others.

Snowden is regarded as a hero around the world because he enabled everyone to see how dangerous & lawless the US Deep State is.

https://twitter.com/arusbridger/status/1334857590401069060

How often do we have have trans-ideological and principled agreement like this?

The only people who would be angered by a pardon of Snowden would be the Deep State operatives who have spent years buried in the security state agencies and thus believe they have the right to abuse its powers -- the abuses Snowden revealed & denounced:

https://twitter.com/ambassadorrice/status/1294797549560385543?lang=en

Every person I know who works on issues of whistleblowing, transparency, and CIA/FBI/NSA abuses knows the only chance for a pardon of Snowden or Assange (even if low) lies with Trump now, but it's basically zero with Biden/Harris.

Maybe it's worth thinking about why that is.

Still more members of Congress weighing in to echo the @ACLU position that Edward @Snowden should be pardoned:

Of course...The neocon ally of US liberals speaks up.

@Liz_Cheney is an abject liar. She says Snowden “handed over US secrets to Russian and Chinese intelligence” because she comes from a family of liars & her career rests solely on her father, one of this century’s worst liars.

If the people most desperate for you not to be pardoned are the professional liars of CIA, the criminal domestic spies of NSA, and bloodthirsty neocon warmongers and monsters like the Cheney Family, that’s a pretty good sign that you’ve served justice and deserve a pardon.

Just a reminder: when pro-war Democrats in the House — funded by Boeing and Raytheon — wanted to block Trump from withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, they partnered with neocon warmongers like @Liz_Cheney. It’s the Endless War machine & criminal spies who want Snowden punished.

If I owed my entire career to the nepotistic accident that I happened to have the same last name as a war criminal and historic liar: my dad — as is true of @Liz_Cheney — I’d probably refrain from lying so blatantly like this and calling for others to be imprisoned.

Any other questions about Liz Cheney?

“I want to be able to engage in outright fabrications in peace like my dad taught me to do, without any irritating journalists pointing out what and who I am.”