Guardian editor defends publication of Snowden files

-/AFP/Getty Images - Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger gives evidence before the government's Home Affairs Select Committee in London on Dec. 3.

LONDON — Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on Tuesday vigorously defended his decision to publish a series of articles based on the secret files leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, telling a parliamentary committee that the right to continue pursuing the story goes to the heart of press freedoms and democracy in Britain.

Rusbridger also told lawmakers that the Guardian had published only 1 percent of the 58,000 files it had received from Snowden.