2016 Democrats on NSA and Snowden

INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY 2016 Dem Position Hillary Clinton Senator: 2001-2009 Joe Biden Senator: 1973-2009 VP: 2009- Martin O’Malley Governor: 2007-2015 Jim Webb Senator: 2007-2013 Bernie Sanders Rep.: 1991-2007 Senator: 2007- Lincoln Chafee Senator: 1999-2007 Governor: 2011-2015 NSA Endorsed USA Freedom Act, which would roll back domestic surveillance. [MSNBC, 5/7/15] Supported scaling back domestic surveillance. [Atlantic, 2/25/15] 2006: Opposed bulk collection of metadata. [Business Insider, 7/5/13] Did not appear to oppose NSA surveillance. [Politico, 2/17/14] Believed bulk data collected on Americans not accused of terrorism or crime should be destroyed. [Richmond Times- Dispatch, 12/3/14] Opposed bulk collection of metadata. [Office of Senator Sanders, 5/7/15] Opposed bulk collection of metadata. [US News, 4/10/15] Snowden Said she could never condone Snowden’s leaks. [The Week, 2/25/15] Called Snowden a “fugitive of American justice” and urged Ecuador not to grant him asylum. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/29/13] Called Snowden an “internal threat.” [Associated Press, 7/9/14] Defended Snowden and said he deserved leniency. [USA Today, 1/6/14] Hinted he may be open to pardoning Snowden, and would announce a position on the matter. [US News, 4/10/15] MAY 2015: SECRETARY CLINTON ENDORSED A BILL TO ROLL BACK NSA SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS MSNBC: “Hillary Clinton Joined The White House In Endorsing A Bill To Roll Back Mass Surveillance.” “On the same day a federal court ruled against the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of telephone data, Hillary Clinton joined the White House in endorsing a bill to roll back mass surveillance. ‘Congress should move ahead now with the USA Freedom Act — a good step forward in ongoing efforts to protect our security & civil liberties,’ Clinton wrote on Twitter Thursday. The USA Freedom Act would end the NSA’s bulk collection of data under the Patriot Act’s controversial Section 215. The section is set to expire June 1 unless Congress takes action, and momentum is building around the rollback measure.” [MSNBC, 5/7/15] FEBRUARY 2015: SECRETARY CLINTON WAS NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR ABOUT HOW SHE WOULD REFORM NSA PRACTICES, BUT SEEMED TO SUPPORT GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ADVOCATED A “BETTER BALANCE” Secretary Clinton: “I Think The NSA Needs To Be More Transparent About What It Is Doing, Sharing With The American People, Which It Wasn't.” “CLINTON: I think the NSA needs to be more transparent about what it is doing, sharing with the American people, which it wasn't. And I