Christie: NSA Fears Are ‘Ridiculous’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says the National Security Agency’s sweeping collection of American citizens’ data is completely fine. Fears that the government is spying on law-abiding citizens are “exaggerated and ridiculous,” he said in a foreign-policy speech in New Hampshire on Monday. “When it comes to fighting terrorism, our government is not the enemy,” he said. “And we shouldn’t listen to people like Edward Snowden, a criminal who hurt our country and now enjoys the hospitality of President Putin.” A federal court recently ruled that the unwarranted bulk collection of phone records was illegal because what the NSA does exceeds what Congress authorized with the Patriot Act.