Chris Christie: Fears of government spying are 'baloney'

Civil liberties advocates’ fears about the government’s intelligence efforts are “baloney,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will say Monday during a speech in the early primary state of New Hampshire, calling for expanded American military and intelligence programs.

The government is not the enemy when it comes to fighting terrorist threats, he will say, according to a copy of his prepared remarks provided by his political action committee.


Christie will say that Americans “shouldn’t listen to people like Edward Snowden, a criminal who hurt our country and now enjoys the hospitality of President Putin — while sending us messages about the dangers of authoritarian government.”

“When Edward Snowden revealed our intelligence secrets to the world in 2013, civil liberties extremists seized that moment to advance their own narrow agenda. They want you to think that there’s a government spook listening in every time you pick up the phone or Skype with your grandkids,” Christie is set to declare.

The Republican presidential hopeful is set to slam the portrayal of the intelligence community in popular culture, suggesting that the concerns raised are “baloney.”

“They want you to think of our intelligence community as the bad guys, straight out of the ‘Bourne Identity’ or a Hollywood thriller. And they want you to think that if we weakened our capabilities, the rest of the world would love us more,” he will say.

One of Snowden’s U.S. legal advisers took aim at Christie’s remarks.

“I wonder if Christie would similarly disparage the majority of Americans’ who oppose NSA’s mass surveillance, or the Republican-led House of Representatives, who just voted to roll back surveillance under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, or the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board who agreed the 215 program was ineffective, or the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, who ruled that the 215 program was illegal and recognized the program’s grave privacy implications,” Jesselyn Radack wrote in an email to POLITICO.

The assertive posture on U.S. intelligence programs comes as the Senate this week is trying to break a stalemate over expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act used to authorize the controversial National Security Agency program that collects Americans’ phone records. Those provisions are set to lapse at the end of the month.

Republican presidential contender Rand Paul has been a leading voice in the Senate with warnings about the dangers of surveillance programs.

In his speech on Monday, Christie will also slam President Barack Obama for his “eagerness” to accept a bad deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

“The price of inaction is steadily rising. Just last week we saw the embarrassment of almost all the Gulf leaders, including the Saudi King, pulling out of President Obama’s summit at Camp David. Our allies want policies, not photo ops, and we’re not listening to them,” Christie will say, broaching the possibility of a slippery slope if the United States does not act firmly with Iran, invoking the ongoing battle with the Islamic State, Al Qaeda and dangerous situations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

“If we’re not going to stop Iran getting a nuclear capability, then why would the Saudis or Egyptians or Emiratis choose not to follow? If we don’t have a plan to stop Bashar al-Assad in Syria, or Iraq in Yemen, what’s to stop governments lending support to proxy forces like Al Qaeda and ISIS?” he will ask.

So far, Christie will say, Obama’s “piecemeal strategy” to deal with the Islamic State isn’t working, referencing the terror group’s recent takeover of Ramadi, the capital of the country’s largest province.

The New Jersey governor will say that the U.S. needs more ground forces that can respond on all fronts, urging a larger and more modernized Army, Navy and Air Force. He said Congress and Obama should repeal budget caps that have restrained military spending.

“Americans were the first to conquer the skies — let’s not concede them,” he will say.