The report also took issue with Snowden’s portrayal of himself as a whistleblower, claiming that he ignored all legitimate avenues through which to raise his concerns about the USA surveillance activities.
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The Obama administration reiterated that its policy is that Snowden “should return to the United States and face the very serious charges that he is facing”.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey joined a growing chorus of celebrities calling for a presidential pardon for whistle-blower Edward Snowden Friday.
Now, with presidential elections set for November 8, both presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have expressed strong opposition of pardoning Snowden, saying he must be punished for harming the country’s national security.
He added, “The truth is that Edward Snowden and the journalists with whom he worked did the job that the House Intelligence Committee was supposed to do: bring meaningful oversight to the U.S. intelligence community”.
The report from the US House of Representatives argues that information released by Snowden – concerning US mass surveillance and data collection by the NSA and other governments around the world – caused “tremendous damage to national security”. The debate resulted in changing in passing new legislation that ostensibly provide protection from the government’s intrusive practices.
The report comes as Snowden and his supporters have launched a major push to have him pardoned before President Obama leaves office, and as the Hollywood film Snowden hits theaters worldwide. He has also been accused of disclosing details of classified programs that have endangered national security in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917.
“I’m not actually asking for a pardon myself because I think the whole point of our system and the foundation of our democracy is a system of checks and balances”, he said.
The release of the report coincides with the release of the movie “Snowden”, directed by Oliver Stone, which portrays the former intelligence contractor as a whistleblower and hero.
Lawmakers said that in order to avoid interfering with a criminal investigation, the committee did not interview Snowden, who is living in Moscow, or any witnesses who may be called should Snowden face trial.
“The enormous value of Mr Snowden’s revelations is clear”, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth and Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty wrote in The New York Times on Thursday.
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“What we’re hoping is that after the election when Obama is in his final months in office – at that stage he can begin to do some things that are appropriate as a matter of conscience but politically hard”, he said.
