Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey at a press conference in 1986. |
BOSTON — A former Republican senator from New Hampshire is praising Edward Snowden for "doing the right thing" in an email exchange with the former intelligence contractor who exposed secrets about U.S. government surveillance programs.
Gordon Humphrey, a two-term U.S. senator who left Capitol Hill in 1990, described Snowden as "a courageous whistleblower" in email correspondence published without his knowledge by the Guardian newspaper. Humphrey wrote that Snowden exposed "a massive violation of the United States Constitution."

The 72-year-old old retired lawmaker told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the emails were authentic. Humphrey said he's using the flurry of attention to rally public opinion — and other former members of Congress— behind Snowden, although it's been slow going.
Snowden has spent the past three weeks in the Moscow airport transit zone.