Rand Paul to Snowden: Don't cozy up to the Russian or Chinese governments

“If he cozies up to the Russian government, it will be nothing but bad for his name in history,” the senator said. “If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and refuses to talk to any sort of formal government like this, I think there’s a chance that he’ll be seen as an advocate of privacy. If he cozies up to either the Russian government, the Chinese government, or any of these governments that are perceived still as enemies of ours, I think that will be a real problem for him in history.”

Crowley contrasted Paul’s defense of Snowden to Charles Schumers’ earlier portrayal of Snowden as a reckless lawbreaker, and asked Paul if he thought Snowden shouldn’t be prosecuted.

“Mr. Snowden hasn’t lied to anyone,” Paul said. “He did break his oath of office, but part of his oath of office is to the Constitution, and he believes that, when James Clapper came in March, our National Director of Intelligence came and lied, that he was simply coming forward and telling the truth that your government was lying.”