Why Does Rand Paul Want to Imprison Edward Snowden?

by Will Grigg
Jan. 14, 2014

Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has announced his intention to file a class action lawsuit against the National Security Agency over its illegal eavesdropping program. An earlier suit filed by the group Judicial Watch resulted in a temporary injunction from federal district court Judge Richard Leon, who described the program as “almost Orwellian.” A second federal judge, in response to a separate lawsuit filed by the ACLU, issued a ruling that described the totalitarian surveillance program as justified by the need to fight terrorism.

All of these lawsuits have depended heavily on the revelations of former NSA employee Edward Snowden, whose disclosures have laid bare the unconstitutional and criminal misconduct of the agency. Rather than commending Snowden for his principled and patriotic service, Sen. Paul has called for him to be prosecuted and imprisoned.

“Edward Snowden broke the law,” Sen. Paul wrote in a letter to the Wall Street Journal. “There are penalties for breaking the law, and I believe he should be prosecuted.”

In effect, Senator Paul is telling Snowden: “Thank you for risking your life to reveal criminal misconduct. I’ll take over and ride this issue to the White House, and you can serve a term in federal prison.”