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Lawmakers Clash Over Calls to Pardon Edward Snowden
To some, he is an American hero. To others, he is a traitor.
Republican lawmakers clashed over the weekend amid calls on President Trump to pardon whistleblower Edward Snowden. Many politicians and social justice activists have advocated for the former National Security Agency contractor to return home to the U.S. without facing legal consequences for espionage charges filed in June 2013.
Calls for Snowden’s pardon have come from progressives and conservatives alike, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congressman Matt Gaetz, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Rand Paul, the New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 2016, Senator Sanders took to Twitter to support Snowden, writing; “the interests of justice would be best served if our government granted @Snowden some form of clemency.”
In his run for the presidency in 2020, Sanders vowed that if elected president he would refuse to use the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers.
“The law is very clear: Whistleblowers have a very important role to play in the political process and I am very supportive of the courage of that whistleblower, whoever he or she may be,” Sanders said.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has voiced her support on many occasions for dropping charges…