House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) didn’t mince words Tuesday when offering his assessment of 29-year-old National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
“He’s a traitor,” Boehner said in an interview with ABC. “The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk. It shows our adversaries what our capabilities are. And it’s a giant violation of the law.”
Boehner said that there are “clear safeguards” in place to protect the privacy of Americans in the implementation of the NSA programs detailed in recent days by The Guardian and The Washington Post. The top Republican in the House said that he feels “comfortable” with the NSA’s collection of millions of phone records.
“There is heavy oversight of this program by the House Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Boehner said.
There is an emerging debate in Washington and nationwide over how to characterize Snowden’s actions. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (FL) on Monday said pointedly that he believes Snowden committed an “act of treason.”
