Amash: Snowden a whistle-blower, 'told us what we need to know'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Justin Amash said Sunday that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower -- adding to the debate about whether the American should be considered a traitor for leaking National Security Agency secrets while working as a federal contractor.
Amash, R-Mich., acknowledged that Congress was aware that U.S. intelligence agents could gather information on Americans under the post-9/11 Patriot Act but not to the extent Snowden revealed this spring.
“Members of Congress were not really aware … about what these programs were being used for, the extent to which they were being used,” Amash told “Fox News Sunday. “He’s a whistle-blower. He told us what we need to know.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Official federal whistle-blower status protects from retaliation those who work for the U.S. government and who report alleged misconduct.
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Republicans and others in Congress continue to weigh whether to continue to authorize such spying to protect Americans, while also trying to preserve their privacy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Amash’s statement follows two recent Quinnipiac University polls that show 55 percent of Americans think Snowden is a whistle-blower, not a traitor.
“Count me in the other 45 percent,” Michael Hayden, a former NSA and CIA leader, said on the show.
Eleven percent of the other 45 percent did not respond or did not have an opinion, according to the poll.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hayden argues that Snowden’s revelations -- including that the federal government collects data on Americans’ phone calls and Internet activities -- will make U.S. intelligence gathering more difficult.