Bush: ‘No leniency’ for Snowden

GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should receive “no leniency” for his leak of government surveillance programs.

Snowden broke the law, recklessly endangered nat’l security, & fled to China/Russia. He should be given no leniency https://t.co/9RHNGsHZnx

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) July 7, 2015

The former Florida governor has been a strong defender of the NSA surveillance programs, the details of which Snowden leaked to journalists in 2013. Bush has also been highly critical of Snowden.

Bush on Monday night was reacting to an interview in which former Attorney General Eric Holder suggested the possibility exists for the government and Snowden to reach some kind of resolution.

“I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with. I think the possibility exists,” Holder told Yahoo News.

Holder said Snowden’s disclosures “spurred a necessary debate” and that the country is “in a different place” because of them.

A spokesman for the Justice Department said, however, that its position had not changed. The government has charged Snowden with multiple crimes under the Espionage Act.

Following his leaks, Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he has received temporary asylum. He has expressed the desire to return to the United States. But he has refrained because he doesn’t think he would receive a fair trial.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who received the leaked documents, shot back at Bush’s comments.

He’s not asking for “leniency,” & other than the “China/Russia” part, this comment applies more to your brother… https://t.co/pnq2o0a2kU

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 7, 2015