Russian Parliament Member Tweets That Snowden Accepts Political Asylum, Deletes Tweet Almost Immediately

Proving that anything is possible, the spokesman for the Russian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Alexei Pushkov, tweeted earlier today that Edward Snowden had accepted political asylum in Venezuela. Pushkov deleted the tweet just moments after posting it, but not before RT grabbed a screenshot.

There will likely be official word confirming or denying this soon. In the meantime, the Wikileaks Twitter account said that Snowden has still not formally accepted the offer of asylum — though it’s also apparently been deleted:

Edward #Snowden has not yet formally accepted asylum in Venezuela. The Russian law maker concerned has deleted the tweet.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 9, 2013

We’ll update with any further information on the situation.

(via Mediaite and RT)

Meanwhile in related links

• Donald Trump thinks Edward Snowden should be executed
• Snowden could stay in Russia if he promises to stop leaking information
• Icelandic lawmakers floated the idea of granting Snowden citizenship