Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) released a tweet today to President Donald Trump, calling for Trump to pardon Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Gabbard tweeted, “@realDonaldTrump Since you’re giving pardons to people, please consider pardoning those who, at great personal sacrifice, exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.” She included the content of her Oct. 6 tweet: “Brave whistleblowers exposing lies and illegal actions in our government must be protected. Join me and urge Congress: Pass my bipartisan legislation (HRes1162, HRes1175, HR8452) calling for charges against @snowden & Assange to be dropped & to reform the Espionage Act.” Accompanying the tweet was a short video in which she explains the legislation.
On Oct. 2, Representative Gabbard and Rep.Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced H.Res.1162, a resolution calling for the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden. In a press release that day, Gabbard stated: “We continue to see attacks on American civil liberties by aggressive surveillance policies within our own government, trading on the fears of the American people. This occurred under both Democratic and Republican administrations, while a few brave whistleblowers came forward to lift the curtain on the Constitutional threats we faced. Edward Snowden has been persecuted for bravely exposing massive illegal government surveillance of all Americans — a finding backed up by U.S. courts as recently as last month. Meanwhile, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress saying this program did not exist, and suffered no consequence whatsoever. All charges against Edward Snowden should be dropped. We need to protect whistleblowers, not the powerful elite.”
Both Snowden and Assange are charged under the 1917 Espionage Act.
