Former Sen. Saxby Chambliss says he believes Edward Snowden should be publicly hanged as soon the United States can "get our hands on him."

The Republican from Georgia, who recently retired from the Senate, served previously as the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Chambliss was speaking at the University of Georgia in July, reflecting on his career in the Senate when he made the comments. He was responding to a question about the hack of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the largest data breach in U.S. government history.

"This is real and the worst part of it -- not unlike the Snowden incident, which I hope none of you have sympathy for him because we need to hang him on the courthouse square as soon as we get our hands on him -- but just like we're gonna lose American lives as a result of this breach," Chambliss said earlier this month.