Former President Jimmy Carter says he fears his private email is monitored for sensitive information by the government he once led. Carter was speaking to NBC News’s Andrea Mitchell in an exclusive interview on Sunday’s “Meet The Press.” Laughing, he explained that when he communicates with foreign leaders, he doesn’t trust his own government not to spy on him, so he communicated the old-fashioned way.
Carter, who is America’s oldest living president, revealed that hoping to protect his communications from government snoops, he writes a letter, puts a stamp on it and sends his message by “snail mail.”
“Old-fashioned snail mail?” asked Mitchell.
“Yeah, because I believe if I send an email, it will be monitored,” Carter replied.
If Carter also fears his mail is monitored, he didn’t mention it as a concern.
Speaking to Mitchell regarding criticism that the National Security Agency (NSA) was treading on privacy rights, gathering intelligence under the guise of protecting the American homeland, Carter denounced the agency, saying “That has been extremely liberalized and abused by our own intelligence agencies.”
Viewers may have been stunned to realize that not even a former president can feel safe from the NSA. The real shocker, though, is that this was not the sound-bite that was used to promote the Carter and Mitchell special segment in an advanced clip released by NBC. That clip, available over on Yahoo, focuses on the much softer response Carter gave when asked if President Obama reached out to Carter for his expertise or advice. Carter gently acknowledged that his vision for Middle East policies was not in sync with how Obama wanted to proceed.
