You Know Who Else Hates Everyone In Congress? Congress!

Rep. Mike Rogers Now Claims Ed Snowden Should Be Charged With Murder, Because Someone Might Die

from the of-whom? dept

Wed, Oct 22nd 2014 8:03am — Mike Masnick

Things have been kind of quiet on the "ridiculous statements from Rep. Mike Rogers" front lately, but as he's entering his final months in Congress before retiring to the warm embrace of national talk radio, he's apparently decided to ramp back up with the ridiculous rhetoric. His latest salvo is to argue that the US should be charging Ed Snowden with murder:

Republican Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, told an meeting in the House of Commons in London on Tuesday evening that Snowden was a "traitor" who was now living in the "loving arms" of Russian spies.

"The [US] government has pressed charges on Mr Snowden," he said. "We are treating him, as I would argue, the traitor that he is." Rogers added: "And by the way, and this is important, I would charge him for murder."

Uh, murder of whom, exactly? As far as I can tell, his argument is that because of Snowden's actions, soldiers are less safe and might get killed, and thus, murder.

"He took information that allows force protection, not only for British soldiers, but for US soldiers, and made it more difficult for us to track those activities. Meaning it is more likely that one of those soldiers is going to get their legs blown off or killed because of his actions," he said. "Anybody that provides information to the enemy is a traitor, period, pure and simple."

Except, no. Almost none of that is even close to accurate. Snowden didn't "provide information to the enemy" -- he blew the whistle on illegal programs by revealing it to the public via well-respected reporters who, you know, won the Pulitzer Prize for their reporting. Unless Rogers views the American public as "the enemy" his argument makes no sense. Furthermore, what information has Snowden provided that means a soldier is somehow more likely to get his legs blown off or killed? So far, all of the revelations have been about surveillance programs that have raised serious legal and constitutional questions, but have done little to actually "help" terrorists. That's because most terrorists were well aware of the surveillance capabilities of the NSA/GCHQ before. The new stuff is how the NSA uses that on everyone else.

Meanwhile, if doing things that might lead to more soldiers getting hurt or killed makes you guilty of murder, shouldn't Rogers be talking about getting himself and other members of Congress charged with murder? After all, remember it was Congress that failed to equip soldiers with proper body armor.

Rogers also repeats his "Snowden was working for the Russians all along" argument that he's particularly fond of. He does this despite the fact that basically everyone, including officials from both the NSA and the FBI, has said they've found no evidence to support such an argument.

Rogers also repeats the claim that Snowden handed over lots of other material that is dangerous:

Rogers said that "over 95%" of the information Snowden handed over had "nothing to do" with the NSA spying on American or European citizens private communications but was "about tactical things, military plans and operations".

However, again, this is based on the old DOD report that listed everything that Snowden ever "touched." Snowden, Greenwald and others who have seen the documents have noted -- multiple times -- that the number of documents he actually handed over was much lower than what that report claimed (in the tens of thousands of documents, rather than 1.7 million as the report claimed). Furthermore, the fact that no reports have come out "about tactical things, military plans and operations" certainly seems to support that fact, no matter what Rogers wants to claim.

Now that he's moving to a medium where nutty conspiracy theorists thrive, I imagine Rogers may get even nuttier. But, at the very least, he won't be in charge of "oversight" (stop laughing) of the NSA any more.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: ed snowden, fud, mike rogers, murder, nsa, surveillance, traitor

63 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Violynne (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:07am

Meaning it is more likely that one of those soldiers is going to get their legs blown off or killed because of his actions," he said.
His actions?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty damn sure the entire middle Eastern conflict has a great deal to do with the fact our government decided to illegally ship arms to our current enemies.

Snowden wasn't even born.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Digger, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:11am

Now we have a way to legally remove Government officials
Mike Rogers - guess what bub, if we wanted to think that way, then you'd be first to be given lethal injections.

Your own actions and inactions have caused hundreds to die you filthy murderer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:11am

Someone ought to slap a 2 year sentence on Rogers for trolling.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
jackn, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:16am

Republican Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee

it is really difficult to not laugh...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:20am

Driven crazy by his rage
Hmm. Last I checked, in order to be charged with murder you actually have to have killed someone or, at least, there needs to be an actual dead person that it looks like you killed. You can't be charged with murder just because your actions made someone's death more more likely. That would be more like reckless endangerment (which, in the Snowden case, would still be a HUGE stretch at best.)

It seems clear to me that Rogers is so enraged that he's just lost his nut.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:23am

How serendipitous
It was only a few minutes ago that I commented in the previous article (about Congress's self-loathing) that I have grown quite tired of inferior people with inferior minds being in positions of political power.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exhibit A. How the fuck is someone like Mike Rogers allowed anywhere near the complicated machinery of government? Doing so is like handing a hyperactive five-year-old a can of Red Bull and plunking them down in front of the controls of a nuclear power plant.

"[..] I imagine Rogers may get even nuttier."

I don't see how: he's already quite clearly clinically insane.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dismembered3po (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:23am

Military plans and operations
So, what he's saying here is that classified military "tactical things," like plans and operations, are kept on a system to which civilian subcontractors had unfettered access.

Anyone else have another idea of who we'd pin a murder wrap to?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:24am

what the fuck is wrong with this guy? all he keeps doing is trying to cast the eye for what Snowden has done and taking the eye off him! he needs to be told in no uncertain terms 'it aint working'!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DaveK (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:29am

Rogers did not mis-speak:
Snowden provided information to us, the public. To Rogers, we clearly are the "enemy".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Almost Anonymous, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:32am

Karma
Rogers added: "And by the way, and this is important, I would charge him for murder."

That's odd, because I would charge Mike Rogers with making false criminal charges.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:34am

And by the way, and this is important, I would charge him for murder."

Why yes, that IS important. It's important for us to know that you would charge someone with murder who has not murdered anyone.

Hopefully the people in your district will take their blinders off and elect someone else.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DeadBolt (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:40am

As an elected official, isn't there a way to force him to have a Psych Eval? The dude is clearly off his rockers.

They should probably do an eval on those who elected him in the first place, but there is the old addage: "The lesser of two evils".

If this is the lesser, I don't want to know what the other guy would've been like.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:49am

Rogers is such a fool.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:51am

The NSA actively creates and preserves security vulnerabilities that make every computer less safe, including government servers full of top secret information. Practically handed all that sensitive data to the terrorist types on a silver platter. How many murders have the NSA committed?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:56am

BY that logic, we should kill everyone on the Hill for their stance on Iraq, right?

Moron.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Digitari, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:59am

Hmmmmm
Snowden = Muder

Obama = Nobel Peace Prize

Enjoy

Barrack

Obama's

Legacy

America
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nova6K0, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:11am

Mike Rogers is mentally ill, there is no getting around the issue.

Greetings.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nigel Lew (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:13am

Re:
Its frankly just funny now. He is so entirely full of shit he is almost no longer a problem.

Fodder for the Daily Show is another animal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just Another Anonymous Troll, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:13am

Declaring war or sending soldiers overseas makes them more likely to die.
Congress should charge themselves with murder, find themselves guilty, and execute themselves.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:21am

Re: How serendipitous
How? Because sane people long ago stepped aside the crazy train that is running for/holding office.

The only people now capable of being elected are people so squeaky clean that only the psychotic qualify. Who in their lives hasn't made mistakes that would be cannon fodder for an opposing political campaign?

Given the cost of even House campaigns, only the politically connected are going to be capable. Sure a few 'normal' people will get in but will be wildly outnumbered by the crazy train passengers.

So we have politically connected psychotics as the only group left running for office.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Peter (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:28am

Yeah, unfortunately, in the mass of people...
He's just saying it like it is -- unqualified baloney as far as educated people like you and me are concerned, but to the ordinary everyday people who listen to his upcoming talk radio, he is a winner baby. That's the sad but unfortunate truth.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:30am

Response to: Just Another Anonymous Troll on Oct 22nd, 2014 @ 9:13am
Yep, that's my one nitpick with Mike's article
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:44am

While we're at it can we charge mcdonalds and a few car manufacturers with murder , heart disease is real, and if it wasn't for my car I wouldn't be able to hit the drive thru as often.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:46am

Re:
You'll get your wish, but not for the reason you think.

Mike Rogers is leaving office after his current term is up to make a move into talk radio.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:53am

Its embarrassing to have people like this 'represent' us.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Baron von Robber, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:56am

He spouts nonsense without inhaling to the point of comical relief? Perfect for the AM spectrum. He'll fit right in.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:07am

figures
mike rodgers has all the appeal of a used condom in a trashcan.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BOLLOCKS, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:14am

" he said. "Anybody that provides information to the enemy is a traitor, period, pure and simple."

We the people are the enemy and traitors, as the information was provided to us all
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:21am

Re: Yeah, unfortunately, in the mass of people...
which is why Rogers should be charged with theft because his actions helped cause the loss of potential profits to tech companies before he gets his show.

Oh and don't forget mail fraud, a federal offense, he probably knew about Cisco products being intercepted and modified.

And just wait till he has his show. We can then charge him with the disorderly conduct because of the FUD he will probably spout off causing panic.

Course these arguments only work if you follow his logic.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:27am

Re:
I can't believe that you are wasting the energy to get into your car for the drive thru. Get your meal with drones or pay someone else to do it for you so that you don't even have to leave the couch. This way you can ensure the heart attack to help support your case.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bergman (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:41am

Accomplices?
If being a party to an unlawful act that leads to a death in any way, no matter how tenuous the connection is makes you a murderer...

Then I have to wonder, has Rogers ever voted for a bill that was unconstitutional, and when enforced caused any fatalities?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:45am

Re: Driven crazy by his rage
It seems clear to me that Rogers is so enraged that he's just lost his nut.

It's also possible he's just bullshitting. Meaning he doesn't know or care whether what he's saying is true or not, he's just saying these things to further some sort of agenda.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:49am

Murder
Meanwhile, if doing things that might lead to more soldiers getting hurt or killed makes you guilty of murder, shouldn't Rogers be talking about getting himself and other members of Congress charged with murder? After all, remember it was Congress that failed to equip soldiers with proper body armor.

Not to mention Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al for starting these wars in the first place. He can't argue that didn't make it more likely soldiers would die.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:50am

Psh. Everyone knows
Leaked intelligence doesn't kill people. People kill people.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 10:57am

Can we charge Rep. Mike Rogers with murder since his comments are so criminally stupid it might get someone killed?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
art guerrilla (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:00am

Re: Now we have a way to legally remove Government officials
thank you, exactly what i wanted to say...

illegal wars, secret prisons, secret laws, and all the rest of the 1984 package he screamed bloody murder for, but *snowden* is the cause of amerika's problems ? ? ? fuck him...

no, how about the STUPID, SHITTY decisions, scaremongering, ILLEGAL wars, UNCONSTITUTIONAL spooking up of our country, that HE and the rest of the *REAL* TRAITORS have perpetrated upon the planet; THAT is approx a zillion times more responsible for this sad state of affairs we find ourselves in, rather than the TRUE PATRIOTISM of the snowdens, mannings, kiriakous, etc...

i'd like to throw a necktie party for that loudmouthed jerk, a REAL TRAITOR to the constitution; UNLIKE those who braved a corrupted, immoral gummint to *try* and inform us sheeple what is really up with their eee-vil machinations, he does NOTHING to defend the constitution...

a *REAL* murderer, a *REAL* traitor, and a *REAL* scumbag, ignorant sack of shit, and *HE* dares to call for the arrest of those few patriots who push back against the likes of complicit scum like him ? ? ?
fuck him sideways with a pineapple...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:38am

Re: Re: How serendipitous
Yes. Notice that Colin Powell declined to run, even though as a black man on a Republican ticket (and a war hero) he would have been a shoo-in.

But he didn't run because he's too smart.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:39am

Re:
To old people that watch the news (like my dad) it is working. He thinks Snowden is the worst traitor the US has ever seen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:42am

Re:
He's gonna make Rush look like an amateur...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:53am

Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
I think he was a long way from a shoo-in. His image was already beginning to crack at that point, and the disillusionment with him that came later would have come soon into his campaign.

But, what I really wanted to say was thank you for spelling "shoo-in" correctly. That's rare enough that it's worth pointing out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
michael, 22 Oct 2014 @ 12:07pm

"Anybody that provides information to the enemy is a traitor, period, pure and simple."

I would point out that, as the single largest producer of data -- including mapping, satellite, and statistical data of all sorts -- this meant the US government is a traitor in the eyes of this Congressman.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 12:08pm

Rogers added: "And by the way, and this is important, I would charge him for murder."

I would challenge Mike Rogers to PROVE a single incident that resulted in the loss of life, based solely on the information Snowden leaked.

After all, if he's convinced that he should be charged with murder, then he MUST have something to back up such a statement.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 12:34pm

Didn't he just implicate himself to be charged with murder. Considering what he has said and done
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 12:57pm

Re: Re:
To old people that watch the news (like my dad) it is working. He thinks Snowden is the worst traitor the US has ever seen.

Not to set off a flame war or anything, I hope, but does he consider himself liberal, conservative, or none of the above? Just curious, because it seems to me that perceptions of Snowden often fall along partisan lines.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Zem, 22 Oct 2014 @ 1:03pm

Luckily for Rogers eugenics is no longer practiced and he is free from the threat of sterilization.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 1:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
But, what I really wanted to say was thank you for spelling "shoo-in" correctly. That's rare enough that it's worth pointing out.

There is a great point that piqued my interest. It's annoying when people lose their ability to toe the line on these things, and it happens a lot. We shouldn't just give them free rein because then it has an effect on everyone, and pretty soon, low and behold, they're not caring about correct usage of the language any more. If they think it's OK, they have another think coming. I'm sure you're in agreement for all intents and purposes, and I'm waiting with bated breath to see if anyone else chimes in too.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 1:08pm

Sounds like this guy is a few fries short of a happy meal. Oh well, since he can't do anything else we may as well put him to work for the government. Much respect here for Mr. Snowden, and if they ever put him on trial here in the Ununited States I will guarantee civil unrest. All the best comrades.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gwiz (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 1:32pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
Not wanting to put the horse before the tipped apple cart, I'd have to say that one good turn of phrase deserves another, so you don't end up a tree without a paddle.

Wait. Perhaps I am unclear on this whole concept.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 2:19pm

And this is why he will never return nor ever receive a fair trail, all because of fucking idiots like Mike Rogers.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ECA (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 2:29pm

So?
How would you avoid our soldiers from being hurt??
DONT GO..
I thought we killed ENOUGH of those idiots? including AN eXTRA BONUS IDIOTS(AND DESTABILIZED A COUNTRY) And we have NEW idiots..(Which keep moving around and we cant locate)

How do you decide a DEATH is based on An action, related/unrelated?

And military info was stored on the machines he Copied data from? I HOPE NOT..
And anyone using windows THINKING they are protected from anything...needs to THINK harder. Thinking Cellphones are Secure, it TOTALLY stupid..and you cant change hardware Easily..
I also Love the idea that Someone thinks that the USA has the only SMART people.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 3:26pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
Oh, nasch, I think I love you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
R.H. (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 4:23pm

Re: Driven crazy by his rage
I'm torn. I'm glad that I don't live in Rogers' district (although, if we lose any representatives in 2020, my district might be combined with that one) because I don't have to deal with the people who would elect someone like that to federal office. However, I almost want to live there so that I could try to vote him out of office.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
R.H. (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 4:29pm

Re: Re:
Really? This is wonderful news. My district borders that one and sometimes I had to deal with improperly targeted advertisements for this guy. Maybe this most recent load of crap is just to build him up for his future audience?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:18pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
:-) Though I just noticed I forgot that I was spelling them all correctly in the middle there, and got one wrong. Oh well.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:25pm

Re:
I'd love to dig through some of his investments ,I'd bet he has some very bloody money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:27pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
Well, its easy to make a mistake. People often loose there concentration weather or not they think that anyone will notice. It made me laugh, and I thank you for having such an affect on me.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nasch (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 6:02pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
Your welcome.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pixelation, 22 Oct 2014 @ 6:06pm

Snowden you bastard! You killed Kenny!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 6:15pm

I should charge Mike Rogers with attempted assisted suicide, because his idiocy is making me want to kill myself.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gwiz (profile), 23 Oct 2014 @ 8:16am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How serendipitous
This entire Public Service Thread has been brought to you through a generous donation from the Preservation of Epigrams, Dictums & Adages Notably Thought to be Incorrect in Culture Symposium (PEDANTICS), a 501(c)(3) organization.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Oct 2014 @ 11:21am

Are we going to charge drunk drivers who haven't actually hit anyone with murder because someone might die? Speeding also increases the chances of an accident and thus death so speeding tickets should now be murder charges. Not sneezing into your sleeve when you have the flu increases the chances of someone else getting the flu so this too is a capital crime.

I can't wait for the Oprah episode: "You're getting a death penalty! And you're getting a death penalty! Everyone's getting a death penalty!"

Best episode of Oprah ever.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Noneofyourbuisness (profile), 23 Oct 2014 @ 1:58pm

In the arms
Snowden is not living in the arms of Russian spies he is living in the loving arms of his pole dancing girl friend. You go Snowden!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Nov 2014 @ 11:23am

So says somebody who voted for foreign wars, and voted to cut food stamps.
[ link to this | view in thread ]