Anderson Cooper's question to all the debaters at last nights Democratic Debate about Edward Snowden revealed much about Clintons views on the NSA and if she would do anything to reign in any of its abuses in our personal lives.
Answer from Clinton:
“He broke the laws of the United States. He could’ve been a whistleblower ... He could’ve raised all the issues that have been raised ... He stole very important information that has fallen into the wrong hands. I think he should not come up without being made to face the music.”
See more on this subject at
Mother Jones
Snowden is one of the subjects about which Clinton has remained consistent, but she has a problem: when it comes to suggesting Snowden had whistleblower protections, she's dead wrong. This, from a Washington Post piece published nearly two years ago:
Most federal employees who report waste, fraud and abuse have legal protections against retaliation by their bosses. If employees are retaliated against, the law defines certain procedures designed to get justice for whistbleblowers.
For employees in national security agencies, the protections are still a promise. National security contractors don’t even have that.
Snowden was a contractor for the NSA when he leaked classified information about top-secret surveillance programs to The Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian.
Recently, I
wrote about Edward Snowdens reply to Clinton on her statement that he was 'helping terrorists'. In that same piece Daniel Ellsberg spoke to Snowden not having whistleblower protection should he return to US with current laws in place.
Perhaps Hillary should consult an attorney before answering some of these questions. Oh, wait!
Sanders reply to same question: