Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on Sunday that pardoning former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden “would be unconscionable” after President Trump said he was considering the idea at a recent press conference.
“Edward Snowden is a traitor. He is responsible for the largest and most damaging release of classified info in US history. He handed over US secrets to Russian and Chinese intelligence putting our troops and our nation at risk,” Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, tweeted on Sunday afternoon, adding; “Pardoning him would be unconscionable.”
A day before Cheney’s comments, Trump said at a press conference at his golf club in New Jersey that he was looking at pardoning the former NSA contractor, who was charged with espionage years back after he released classified documents related to U.S. surveillance programs.
"I’m going to look at it," Trump said at the news conference. "I’m not that aware of the Snowden situation, but I’m going to start looking at it."
"It seems to be a split decision. There are many people think that he should be somehow treated differently and other people think he did very bad things," he continued.
Earlier this week, Trump also told the New York Post that he’s been thinking allowing Snowden, who is currently in Russia, to return to the U.S. without facing time behind bars.
“Snowden is one of the people they talk about. They talk about numerous people, but he is certainly one of the people that they do talk about,” the president told the paper.
read more:
Replies