Libertarian Congressman splits Republicans

by Brian Leubitz

Tom McClintock may not be the most effective leader for his district. He doesn’t bring home big dollars for the state’s northeast corner, and he isn’t a legislative powerhouse. That’s just not his thing. He’s an idealist among a caucus full of idealists. But even the most idealists aren’t going where he is on the Snowden issue:

“I think it would be best if the American government grants (Snowden) amnesty, to get him back to America where he can answer questions without the threat of prosecution,” McClintock said.

“We have some very good laws against sharing secrets. He broke those laws. On the other hand, he broke them for a very good reason, because those laws were being used in direct contravention of our Fourth Amendment rights as Americans.”(KCRA)

I learned of this through a Facebook post from Jon Fleischman, publisher of the FlashReport. The comments were very split, with the more libertarian Republicans supporting McClintock, and the others saying some pretty nasty things about Snowden. Michael Genest, the former director of finance for Gov. Schwarzenegger, left one of the more publishable comments from the more traditional security Republican position:

Michael Genest Tom is wrong. Snowden could have worked his revelations through a whistleblower process without breaking the law. He chose to violate his oath instead. From what I understand he planned to do this even before taking the job. He may well have done us a favor if the NSA is overstepping what is required to protect us, but what damage did he also do to national security? That question was not his to decide and he deserves whatever punishment he lawfully gets, which appears to be a life sentence to live in Russia.

All that being said, it doesn’t look like either Snowden or the administration will be blinking on this standoff.