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Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
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11 Jun, 5 tweets, 3 min read
Eight years ago today, we unveiled one of this generation's most important and courageous whistleblowers: Edward @Snowden. Rather than hide, he voluntarily stepped forward to explain why he risked his liberty to reveal illegal NSA spying on US citizens:

theguardian.com/world/2013/jun…
As the @ACLU put it in urging his pardon, "Snowden blew the whistle on illegal government activity kept secret for years. Our democracy is better off because of him."

The programs he revealed have been declared unconstitutional by US & EU courts.

One overlooked aspect of the Snowden reporting was how it completely evaded dreary partisan divisions. In addition to the ACLU & NYT, Snowden is supported by Rand Paul and other GOP privacy advocates. This was the first major politician to defend him:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The most common reaction I heard during the NSA reporting was: "I don't do anything wrong. Why should I care if the government spies on me? Why do I need privacy."

In 2014, I gave a TED Talk designed to answer that question:

ted.com/talks/glenn_gr…
An administration that exiles @Snowden for revealing illegal domestic spying -- and imprisons Julian Assange for exposing war crimes and corruption by the US, political leaders and their allies -- has zero credibility to denounce others for abusing dissidents and human rights.

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More from @ggreenwald

Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
12 Jun
Democratic Senators and activist groups promoting a false, conclusively disproven narrative about the Pulse shootings for their own benefits. Anti-LGBT animus was not part of that massacre. It dishonors the memory of the victims - & the LGBT cause - to lie about what happened.
This tweet is an absolute lie. Every journalist who covered the PULSE shootings and trial will tell you this. It's infuriating to watch Senators blatantly lie this way.

Omar Mateen had no idea PULSE was a gay club. He spent the prior day looking at Disney locations, but they were too secured. He entered "Club, Orlando" in Google - not "gay club" - to find it. He never uttered an anti-LGBT syllable, saying his motive was US bombing in Iraq/Syria.
Read 6 tweets
Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
12 Jun
Jen Psaki and Joe Biden were part of the administration which had its John-Brennan-led CIA spy on the Senate as it investigated the CIA's interrogation programs. Where was the outrage then about this highly respected third branch of government?

theguardian.com/world/2014/jul…
Not only did MSNBC star @JohnBrennan have his Obama-era CIA spy on the Senate as it tried to investigate the CIA, he always blatantly lied about it over and over, and only apologized once the proof emerged and he was caught.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Everyone remember the famously and inspirationally scandal-free Obama administration? ImageImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
12 Jun
Lots of Democrats and DNC journalists (including from CNN) all telling themselves the report about tear gas at Lafayette Park from the Inspector General -- a respected career civil servant who served in multiple Obama Admin positions -- isn't reliable and shouldn't be believed.
Democrats have their own media ecosystem on cable and Twitter where they all just tell themselves not to believe anything that undermines their interests.

Found this passage interesting: Brian Stelter, on MSNBC, saying they're all on the side of the WH:

dailycaller.com/2021/06/11/bri… Image
The IG Report on Lafayette Park is filled with conclusive, inescapable proof it had nothing to do with Trump: emails planning the clearing of the Park long before Trump decided to go there.

But the minute someone writes an article saying not to believe it, they all re-tweet it.
Read 4 tweets
Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
11 Jun
Trump DOJ Obtained Data on Schiff and Swalwell, Two Long-Time Champions of Domestic Spying

greenwald.substack.com/p/trump-doj-ob…
The two California Democrats join the long list of politicians who enable spying on ordinary citizens, then protest when they are targeted.

In 2018, they played a key role in joining the Paul-Ryan-led, pro-spying wing of the GOP to block @justinamash's domestic spying reforms.
The Obama & Trump DOJ spied on journalists for leak investigations, while the Biden DOJ protected it. Targeting members of Congress merits an investigation. Time will tell if this was an abuse.

But few people have less credibility to object than Schiff and Swalwell.
Read 8 tweets
Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
10 Jun
There's a good reason Joe Scarborough is the anchor of the liberal-left's favorite cable outlet. Shown a *mountain of conclusive, documentary proof* that the Park Police's use of tear gas had nothing to do with Trump - was planned well before - he still insists it happened:
This IG report is as credible as it gets. From a career civil servant with key positions in the Obama Admin, it assembled a huge amount of proof & was *harshly critical* of the Park Police's use of force.

Yet because people need the media tale that Trump did it, they ignore it.
The liberal-left's other favorite outlet, CNN, took the lead in spreading the original falsehood. So rather than just admit they got the story wrong -- which they unquestionably did -- CNN employees like @Acosta keep encouraging their viewers to believe:

Read 12 tweets
Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
9 Jun
Yet Another Media Tale -- Trump Tear-Gassed Protesters For a Church Photo Op -- Collapses

greenwald.substack.com/p/yet-another-…
That Park Police violently cleared Lafayette Park at Trump's behest was treated as unquestioned truth by corporate media.

Today it was revealed by the independent IG Report to be an utter falsehood. Watch how readily and easily they spread lies. From CNN on June 1:
The IG's Report could not be clearer: the media narrative was false from start to finish.

Plans to clear the Park were made before anyone knew Trump was coming. Some journalists, like @MZHemingway, said this at the time, but were "debunked" and declared liars by "fact-checkers."
Read 13 tweets

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