Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has publicly praised NSA leaker Edward Snowden for his actions, warned Snowden Sunday not to cozy up to the Russian or Chinese governments–or any governments that are “perceived still as enemies of ours.”
“I do think, for Mr. Snowden, if he cozies up to the Russian government, it will be nothing but bad for his name in history,” Paul said on CNN’s State of the Union. “If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if he refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this, I think there’s a chance that he’ll be seen as an advocate of privacy.
Paul said that ultimately history will be the judge of Snowden’s legacy, suggesting that he will likely be remembered as a foil to intelligence chief James Clapper, who Paul said lied in front of Congress when he testified that the government was not collecting any personal data on Americans.
