'The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk,' Boehner says. Boehner calls Snowden a 'traitor'

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday called NSA leaker Edward Snowden a “traitor” and said his actions are a “giant violation of the law.”

“He’s a traitor,” Boehner said on “Good Morning America.” “The president outlined last week that these are important national security programs to help keep Americans safe and give us tools to help fight the terrorist threat we face. The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk.”


Boehner said Congress was fully briefed on the programs and that lawyers were always present to “protect the privacy of Americans.”

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“There is heavy oversight of this program, by the House Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Boehner said. “And that’s why I feel comfortable that we can operate this program and protect the privacy rights of our citizens.”

“When you look at these programs, there are clear safeguards.There are no Americans that are going to be snooped on in anyway unless they’re in contact with some terrorist around the world,” he said.

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Last week Boehner declined to detail to reporters if he knew about the NSA program monitoring, saying it’s President Barack Obama’s responsibility to “explain to the American people why the administration considers this a critical tool in protecting our nation from the threats of a terrorist attack.”