Gary Johnson 'Applauds' Edward Snowden's Actions

Says he doesn't belong in jail

Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who ran an unsuccessful 2012 campaign for president on the Libertarian Party ticket, is the first major political figure to side with Edward Snowden, the government contractor who exposed a massive National Security Agency data collection program.

Johnson was careful to qualify his endorsement, however, saying that it's his understanding that Snowden has claimed he revealed only the information he knew about the agency's data collection methods, and not the information that was collected.

'If what he said is true, he doesn't belong in jail, he said. 'He may not belong in government service with his employer either, but it seems that all he said is, "Here's what the machine is doing. This is the machine."