JOPLIN, Mo. Edward Snowden isnt a traitor, said Ray McGovern, former CIA intelligence analyst, during a Friday talk in Webster Halls Corley Auditorium at Missouri Southern State University. <\/p>\n
Nor is Snowden a hero, McGovern said, something that most people think is unachievable for themselves. <\/p>\n
Hes a patriot, McGovern said. He took his oath seriously. He took the Constitution seriously. <\/p>\n
The oath to which McGovern referred, he said was the same one he took when joining the CIA to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. <\/p>\n
Snowden leaked to reporters details about the National Security Agencys bulk data-collection programs and surveillance. He has been granted temporary political asylum in Russia. <\/p>\n
They want to shoot the messenger so bad, McGovern said of the Obama administration and others. <\/p>\n
McGovern said Snowden had a cushy job with a government contractor, but he was troubled by the NSA data-collection programs, which he saw as a clear violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures without a search warrant established by probable cause of a crime. <\/p>\n
McGovern said Snowden, armed with a copy of the Constitution, brought his concerns up with co-workers. They told him to forget about it. <\/p>\n
Thats what makes Ed Snowden different, McGovern said. He wouldnt forget about it. <\/p>\n
McGovern said Snowden was motivated to contact reporters by National Intelligence Director James Clappers statement to a congressional committee when asked if the NSA was collecting any type of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans. <\/p>\n
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