But, it did not come to pass. Why? Glenn Greenwald, who played a key role in helping Snowden expose information about the US government's mass surveillance programs and who advocated in public and behind the scenes that Trump pardon both men, has some interesting thoughts about that.

The reason Trump failed to issue a pardon for either Snowden or Assange centers on the deep state trying to protect itself by placing Trump in jeopardy, suggested Greenwald last week in an episode of his System Update show.

In a written introduction for the episode, Greenwald notes that Trump, while president, had both "raised the possibility that he might pardon Snowden" and was "actively considering a pardon for Assange."