With Americans still skeptical about the National Security Agency’s phone record monitoring, House Speaker John Boehner spoke with ABC News to call the whistleblower a “traitor.” The most powerful Republican in Washington had an exclusive interview Tuesday (June 11) where he was pressed about the IRS scandal, immigration reform, and Edward Snowden and the Verizon Wireless phone records being leaked.
Boehner had some tough words saying that Snowden’s, who leaked the report, categorizing his actions as a “giant violation of the law.” He also believes that Snowden’s reveal of the national security information puts American’s at risk. “He’s a traitor. The president outlined last week that these are important national security programs to help keep Americans safe and give us tools to help fight the terrorist threat we face,” Boehner said.
In Snowden’s effort to expose the truth and prove that Americans have the right to know how the government abuses their powers, Boehner says he created a lane for America’s adversaries to know certain governmental capabilities. The House Speaker continued in saying, “There’s no American who’s going to be snooped on in any way, unless they’re in contact with some terrorists somewhere around the world.”
Boehner added that he was briefed on all the communication monitoring programs and he believes American privacy is still protected. He ensured that all briefings and meetings about the phone record programs were with lawyers who aimed to solely protect the privacy of the American people. Though the former NSA contractor may have been trying to bring American’s awareness of information that is potentially hidden from them, perhaps he did more damage.
Do you think American’s are being protected or harmed? Feel free to weigh in via the comment section below.
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Photo: ABC News
