Pelosi on Edward Snowden: Not a traitor but needs to 'face the music'
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi brushed back the assertions of leading Republicans that the former NSA contractor who leaked details of American spying was a “traitor,” but said Friday that Edward Snowden needs to return and face trial, or reach a plea deal, for his deeds.
At a meeting with Los Angeles Times editors and reporters, Pelosi navigated between those who consider Snowden's actions unpatriotic and others grateful that he laid bare America’s spying secrets — the latter group comprised of many of Pelosi’s natural constituents on the Democratic left.
“If the idea was: American people, you should know … they are collecting metadata about your phone -- who you call, not what you say but who you call -- people would say, ‘Thank God you told me that.’ There’s a case that can be made for that,” she said. “But to take all that information and make it public -- hacking on [German leader Angela] Merkel, this and that, that was not a good faith thing. But that wasn’t breaking the law. Breaking the law was taking the stuff. You broke the law, come back.
“I’m not of the school that says he’s a traitor,” Pelosi said of Snowden. “I’m saying he broke the law, he should face the music, whatever that means.”
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-pelosi-spying-edward-snowden-20140124,0,1801424.story
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