This morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner called NSA whistleblower/leaker a “traitor” and described his actions as a “giant violation of the law.”
On Good Morning America, Boehner explained, “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. The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk.”
Boehner continued to defend the administration and said that Congress had been briefed and that lawyers were always around to “protect the privacy of Americans.”
“There is heavy oversight of this program, by the House Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Boehner said. “And that’s why I feel comfortable that we can operate this program and protect the privacy rights of our citizens.”
“When you look at these programs, there are clear safeguards.There are no Americans that are going to be snooped on in anyway unless they’re in contact with some terrorist around the world,” he said.
Several Senators have come forward to express surprise and alarm over the scope of the government’s surveillance of Americans. Rand Paul (R-KY) in the Senate along with Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Udall (D-CO) were disturbed about the spying programs.
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