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U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, called National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden a "whistleblower" during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

(Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

Update: Readers split over Amash's remarks

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash on Sunday defended National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden as a "whistleblower."

Amash, R-Cascade Township, appeared on the Fox News Sunday program, where he gave what seem to be the first outright statements of support for Snowden's action.

Pressed by host Chris Wallace on whether Snowden was a whistleblower or, as critics have suggested, a traitor, Amash replied with the former.

"He may be doing things overseas that we would find problematic, that we would find dangerous," Amash said. "We'll find those facts out over time, but as far as Congress is concerned, sure, he's a whistleblower. He told us what we needed to know."

Snowden, who earlier this summer leaked details of covert phone records spying by federal authorities to the foreign press, last week was awarded asylum in Russia.

Amash has at various points hinted at his support for Snowden, but until now had never explicitly said how he felt about the man behind the leaks.

Still, even during Sunday's interview he seemed to hedge the extent of that support.

"We don't know all the facts about what he's doing overseas, and what kind of information he's given up," Amash said, "but I certainly think that without his doing what he did, members of Congress would not have really known about it."

Amash appeared on the program for a segment about recent U.S. embassy closings and travel warnings because of what authorities called a credible terrorist threat. Joining Amash was Gen. Michael Hayden, a former CIA and NSA chief.

Hayden pushed back against Amash's defense of Snowden, saying the latter "made it more difficult for our security services to keep Americans safe."

Less than two weeks ago, Amash unsuccessfully tried derailing the NSA's ability to collect the phone metadata of Americans not connected to a terrorism investigation.

His proposed amendment to a defense spending measured was voted down by a narrow 217-205 margin in the House of Representatives.

Critics of the so-called Amash amendment heralded its defeat as a win for continuing what they call an effective method of targeting terrorist suspects.

Amash, on the other hand, also claimed victory, and argued the closeness of the vote betrayed Congress's distaste for the phone records spying.

Video of Amash's Fox News Sunday appearance, via Mediaite, follows:

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