WASHINGTON — Congressman Peter King (R-NY) called for the arrest not just of Edward Snowden but of Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who published Snowden's documents from the National Security Agency.
Fox News host Megyn Kelly asked King, "To take it another step and say the journalist who published the information, the guys who publish what he leaked, that they should face prosecution, that is news. Do you believe that? Stand by that? Both Greenwald and the Washington Post reporter?"
"I'm talking about Greenwald," King said. "Greenwald, not only did he disclose this information, he said he has names of CIA agents and assets around the world and threatening to disclose that. The last time that was done in this country, we saw the CIA agent murdered. I think it should be very targeted and very selective and a rare exception. In this case, when you have someone to disclose secrets like this and threatens to release more, yes, there has to be be — legal action should be taken against him."
Kelly asked again if Greenwald should be prosecuted for "what he's done so far."
"I think it should be considered," King said. "The reason I say it is, this is putting American lives at risk and clearly done to hurt Americans. To allow it to be done it will cause grave consequences to the United States. I'm tying the two together, and that shows his motivation."
This is not the first time King has applied this kind of rhetoric to a leak investigation. In 2006, he said the Department of Justice should prosecute journalists who publish sensitive national security leaks:
