Obama: "I Don't Think Mr. Snowden Was A Patriot"
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: No, I don't think Mr. Snowden was a patriot. As I said in my opening remarks, I called for a thorough review of our surveillance operations before Mr. Snowden made these leaks. My preference -- and I think the American people's preference -- would have been for a lawful, orderly examination of these laws, a thoughtful fact-based debate that would then lead us to a better place. Because I never made claims that all the surveillance technologies that have developed since the time some of these laws were put in place somehow didn't require potentially some additional reforms. That is exactly what I called for.
So the fact is that Mr. Snowden has been charged with three felonies. If, in fact, he believes that what he did was right, then like every American citizen, he can come here and appear before the court with a lawyer and make his case. If the concern was that somehow this was the only way to get this information out to the public, I signed an executive order well before Mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistleblower protections to the intelligence community for the first time. So there were other avenues available for someone whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.
But, having said that, once the leaks have happened, what we have seen is information come out in drips and in drabs, sometimes coming out sideways -- once the information is out, and the administration comes in and tries to correct the record, but by that time, it is too late or we have moved on and a general impression has taken hold not only among the American public, but also around the world, that somehow we are out there willy-nilly just sucking in information on everybody and doing what we please with it. And that is not the case.
| Related Videos: |
Email
Share