Ex-CIA Head Woolsey: Hang Snowden 'By the Neck' If Convicted for Treason

Former CIA Director James Woolsey told Newsmax TV on Friday that he would like to see Edward Snowden "hanged by the neck until he's dead" if he is ever convicted of treason for leaking classified information on the National Security Agency's vast data-collection programs.

"He should be tried by a jury of its peers," Woolsey told "Newsmax Now" host John Bachman. "If convicted [he should be] sentenced to death — treason is a capital offense in the United States."

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However, he is open to the former federal contractor, who continues to live under political asylum in Russia, being offered a plea deal to return to the United States.

"As long as he doesn't just come back and lead a comfortable life in a prison, and some prisons can be made fairly comfortable," Woolsey told Bachman. "As long as he doesn't do that, but is actually tried for the crime of treason — then fine, sure."

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