Sen. Tom Cotton Thursday praised a House committee report finding Edward Snowden a "serial exaggerator and fabricator" — though not a whistleblower — and called for the former NSA contractor to "rot in jail for the rest of his life."
The document, a declassified version released by the House Intelligence Committee, found that most of the 1.5 million classified documents Snowden stole from the NSA had "no connection to programs that could impact privacy or civil liberties.
"They instead pertain to military, defense, and intelligence programs of great interest to America's adversaries," the report said.
Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who is in his first term, said that the committee's research "makes clear that Edward Snowden was an egotistical serial liar and traitor whose unauthorized disclosures of classified information have jeopardized the safety of Americans and allies around the world.
"Snowden's close and continual contact with Russian intelligence services speak volumes," he added. "He deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life."