John Bolton: Snowden 'Committed Act of War Against United States'
Tuesday, 11 Jun 2013 02:26 PM
The self-confessed leaker of top-secret documents detailing the National Security Agency's phone- and Internet-surveillance programs is a "deceitful and dishonest man" who violated oaths he undertook to keep secret classified information about a program approved by all three branches of the government to protect Americans, Bolton added.
"Treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution and it talks about waging war against the United States -- which this is -- and giving aid and comfort to our enemies, and God knows they've gotten a lot of aid and comfort from this release," Bolton said in the interview with Newsmax TV.
"Let me ask, who died and made him king? Who gave him the authority to endanger 300 million Americans? That's not the way it works, and if he thinks he can get away with that, he's got another think coming."
Bolton pointed out that treason is punishable by death, but accepted that it is unlikely the Justice Department would charge Snowden with espionage. However, he said the now-fired Booz Allen Hamilton contractor should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.
"If he gets a jail sentence it ought to be about five life terms running consecutively."
Bolton defended the NSA program, saying it was unlike scandals involving the IRS targeting conservative groups or the cover-up of the killings in Benghazi, Libya, where President Barack Obama's administration may have been using the power of government for political purposes.
Bolton said he could see why the NSA program has a 60 percent favorability rating among Americans, according to a Washington Post-Pew Research poll.
"The American people understand that we are threatened not just by terrorists but, for example, by China's incredible cyberwarfare capabilities. … Technology is a wonderful thing, but it has its upsides and downsides, and America needs to be defended," he said.
"Here, the power of government is being used to protect innocent American civilians."
Bolton said Obama's poor management style is part of the problem with the way the NSA leak has been handled.
"This is a real failing of Barack Obama, who before becoming elected president had never managed anything bigger than a Senate office and it almost seems like he doesn't even know where part of his federal government is.
"I'm wondering really if he understood or paid attention when he was being told about these various NSA programs," he said.
Bolton also reflected on recent CBS News reports that the State Department may have covered up allegations of misconduct and illegal activities, including an underground drug ring, sexual assault, and the hiring of prostitutes by members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail.
"The culture of the State Department is very self-protective, but having investigation after investigation quashed really raises a lot of questions about what's going on," he said. "I've lost count of how many scandals we've got going at the moment -- but on a clear day this would be a scandal big enough to rock any administration, and it'll have its impact here."
He said that while Clinton was seemingly adept at keeping her "fingerprints off" the issue by having her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, intervene, it's likely she was aware of what was happening and was involved in decisions to keep the issue quiet, as she likely was about the Benghazi scandal.
"Whether it's Benghazi or this allegation," he said, "it goes right back to the secretary's office door and [it's] very hard to see how it doesn't end up right on her desk."
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I question how much Bolton really knows about how much this leak did damage to U.S. national security. As citizens, we certainly don't know, either. However, I do know that I do not want our government to create a system that can track and collect every electronic communication in the country. Sooner or later, the next Nixon or McCarthy will come along and misuse it against American citizens. I am happy that Snowden confirmed what we all expected existed, but I do not condone his method. When anybody trusted with top secrets like him or Kim feels they can leak them to anyone, that does put us at risk -- not just from terrorists but also from international espionage against the intellectual property of corporations. My other concern with this case is that when you give top secret clearance to a million low-ranking techs like Snowden, leaks are virtually inevitable.
ReplyDelete--David
I agree that we do not know how much damage, at this point in time, however, someone will know. We need to know who will get that info, and what damage it caused, or did not cause. You are right, whether it is Nixon,McCarthy or Obama, misuse of info is bad for the country.
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure what Snowden did was wrong. If he felt this was the only way to warn us, is that wrong? Is it illegal to expose illegal activities? I don't think so.
I would like to know what other steps Snowden took to get the information out.
Apparently, Snowden was a computer tech with great access to lots of information and not a spy or someone who analyzes data.
The PRISM program is not illegal. It was illegal when Bush did it, but in their infinite wisdom (Ha!) congress changed the FISA law (section 702) in 2007 to make it legal. Congress already knew about it through briefings. If Snowden thought there was some aspect of how they are using it that is illegal that NSA was hiding from Congress, he could have taken his information to Ron Wyden instead of the press. We don't know how much damage he did or didn't do to national security, and I doubt that any low-ranking tech guy like him knows, either.
ReplyDelete--David
I don't know that PRISM was every approved by Congress. The Patriot Act was strengthened under Obama and that allowed more spying on Americans.
ReplyDeleteHow do we know that Snowden did not take his concerns to a Congressman/woman? At this point none have said that they were spoken to. Ron Paul would have been a good person to speak to. He has the pulpit and there are those who would listen.
Until we hear all of Snowden's story--from his side, we will have lots of questions. Like I have said before, I don't know if he is a patriot or a traitor. That distinction might rest on the side of the argument you are on.
Since PRISM is a top secret operation, Congress does not directly approve it. It was made legal by section 702 of the FISA law in 2007. I said Snowden could have taken his evidence to Ron Wyden (strong ally on the Senate Intelligence Committee). Ron Paul is not on the House Intel. Committee and is not briefed on this stuff by NSC. We don't know how much information Snowden has leaked or who he leaked it to. For all we know, he may be a spy for China and went to Hong Kong for their protection. In any event, our national security is at stake on multiple levels when guys like Kim and Snowden do these kinds of leaks. It is criminal, and I thought you were a "rule of law" guy.
ReplyDelete--David