If you look at his comments about Palantir and their proposed safeguards, it's clear it's a case of "if you are dining with the Devil, you'd better bring a very long spoon"

These comments were after the deal had soured. Not before. If it was a case of such morality, the partnership with Palantir would have never happened in the first place.

The contract was explicit - it was for defence purposes with a company known for spying activities. So, obviously spying is involved and they weren't just going to generate cat videos with it.

Again, nobody is innocent here.