National security hawk Rep. Peter King (R-NY) thinks if Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) can be so critical of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he should also take a clear stance on offering clemency to fugitive National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
“I say Rand Paul has an obligation to speak out now, if he’s going to be running for president while his father is saying a traitor should be given a clemency and he’s inheriting his father’s followers,” King said Monday in an appearance on Fox News. “Listen, if he can criticize Bill Clinton, or Hillary Clinton, for what Bill Clinton supposedly did, then I think Rand Paul has an obligation to speak about [what] Ron Paul, his father, is doing.”
Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) started a petition drive last week to urge President Barack Obama to grant clemency to Snowden, who is charged with espionage and theft of government property for leaking information about the NSA’s surveillance programs.
For his part, Rand Paul has said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper did more damage to national security than Snowden did by “lying” about surveillance to the American people, but added he thought Snowden shouldn’t be let off “scot-free” for his disclosures.
King has frequently attacked Paul’s stance on national security issues and suggested that his own presidential ambitions were motivated by Paul’s “lack of a real defense policy or defense debate.”
Watch below, courtesy of Fox News: