Tea Party 'inventor' Larry Klayman mocks Rand Paul's Tea Party bonafides

Tea Party activist Larry Klayman said during a radio interview on Tuesday that he would seek to regain national security clearance following his victory in a lawsuit challenging the National Security Agency's (NSA) data-gathering operations.

Right Wing Watch reported on Wednesday that Klayman also took a potshot at another Tea Party favorite, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), during his appearance on The Steve Malzberg Show, boasting about his own plan to file a class action lawsuit against the NSA while accusing Paul of showboating.

"We did the heavy lifting here," Klayman told Malzberg. "We got Rand Paul, who shot his mouth off months ago that he was gonna do a class-action [suit]. Now all of a sudden, after he's collected all of his money from donors, he decides that he's gonna think about a class action. You know, they're politicians -- and that goes for the Tea Party ones up there on Capitol Hill. And I'm a proud Tea Party person. Some people say I invented the concept."

A federal judge ruled in favor of Klayman and co-plaintiff Charles Strange on Monday, saying the NSA "likely" acted unconstitutionally in demanding phone records from their service provider, Verizon Wireless. Klayman said on Tuesday he would seek certification in his own class-action suit and fight to get his own national security clearance restored.

"I had one as a Justice Department prosecutor, so I should be able to get it," said Klayman, who worked under President Ronald Reagan. "And we'll be able to uncover more information, even, than perhaps [Edward] Snowden."

Watch Klayman's remarks to Malzberg, as posted by Right Wing Watch on Wednesday, below.