Edward Snowden downplays Trump victory: he's 'just the president' Read moreFifteen former staff members of the Church committee, the 1970s congressional investigation into illegal activity by the CIA and other intelligence agencies, have written jointly to Obama calling on him to end Snowden’s “untenable exile in Russia, which benefits nobody”. They even recall how their own Church committee revealed that six US presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, were guilty of abusing secret powers. And most importantly, Snowden’s actions were not for personal benefit, but were intended to spur reform. The Church committee, or the US Senate select committee to study government operations with respect to intelligence activities, to give it its full name, sat in 1975-76 at a time of deep public anxiety about the rogue work of federal agencies. Trump gains no mention in the former staffers’ plea to Obama, but he is the elephant in the room.

Source: The Guardian November 29, 2016 22:00 UTC