Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., defended former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and appeared to obliquely rebuke a legal opinion written by Brett Kavanaugh hours before meeting the Supreme Court nominee.

The Kentucky Republican, a swing vote whose opposition could block Kavanaugh, was not pressed for his views on the nomination during a Tuesday event hosted by the Fund for American Studies. But one student asked about Snowden, who exposed the NSA’s bulk collection of domestic call records – a program at the heart of Paul’s unease with Kavanaugh.

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