Paul Ryan: Snowden Affair 'Reveals an Administration That Seems More and More Incompetent'

June 25th, 2013 10:14 AM

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) had some harsh words for President Obama Tuesday.

Appearing on CBS This Morning, Ryan said the Edward Snowden affair "reveals an administration that seems more and more incompetent by the day."

CHARLIE ROSE, HOST: I realize you’re a House Republican and therefore you've had your moments of opposition to the president. This is from Politico this morning: “Six months into his second term, Barack Obama’s presidency is in a dead zone.” Now does what's happening with Edward Snowden even emphasize that as well?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN (R-WISCONSIN): It does because it just reveals an administration that seems more and more incompetent by the day. When you see scandals such as the IRS or intimidation such as the Department of Justice…

ROSE: What would you have done that the administration has not done with respect to Edward Snowden?

RYAN: Well, first of all, how is it that a 29-year-old contractor with one year at Booz Allen Hamilton can get this kind of security clearance, get this kind of access to this kind of intelligence, walk out with a thumb drive and give it to the world? I mean, how is it that our security clearances are so low that something like this can happen? That's number one. Number two, once we’ve discovered that this person has stolen our secrets, has leaked them, you'd think we'd have a better job of following up with that in China and these other countries.

ROSE: Now they talk about consequences and that the relationship with China and Russia may change. What tools does the United States have and what would you recommend the president do to instill those consequences?

RYAN: Well, I don't want a knee-jerk, but I would say that we have extradition treaties. We have relationships. We should use those relationships. And if we're not able to convince our allies or other countries to actually help us with this, that doesn't speak very well to how we're being viewed in the world. That doesn't speak very well to our credibility. And if we try to leverage our credibility and we're not successful, that does not help our image whatsoever.

I thought our international image and relationships with all countries across the globe including our adversaries were going to dramatically improve if Barack "Nobel Peace Prize" Obama was elected.

Isn't that what the left and their media minions sold us?