An old piece of anti-spy legislation is piquing interest again after former President DonaldTrump was indicted by a federal grand jury. Among the charges is violation of the Espionage Act, which deals with documents related to national defense and the unlawful retention of documents. The indictment comes as special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's handling of classified materials nears an end.
After news of the indictment broke Trump took to social media to defend himself, sharing on his platform Truth Social "I AM AN INNOCENT MAN." He is set to appear Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Miami.
After Trump left the White House in January 2021, the national archives began a year of correspondence with the former president's team in search of missing classified materials. Federal agents eventually searched Trump's Mar-A-Lago residence and found over 300 classified documents. Some were allegedly kept in violation of the Espionage Act.
What is the Espionage Act?
The Espionage Act of 1917, enacted just afterthe beginning of World War I, makes it illegal to obtaininformation, capture photographsor copy descriptions of any information relating to national defense, with the intent for that information tobe used against the United States or for the gainof any foreign nation.
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Is the Espionage Act still in effect?
Many significant chunks of the Espionage Act of 1917 remain in effectand can be used in the court of law.In its modern iteration, the acthas been used to prosecute spies and leakers of classified information.
In the headlines relating to theTrumpMar-A-Lago search, the section of the Espionage Act —which is itself a statute of 18 US Code Chapter 37—is 793.The concerns enumerated in 18 USC 793 are "gathering, transmitting or losing defense information."
What was the purpose of the Espionage Act ?
The Espionage Act was passed to bolster the war effort. Enforced by President Woodrow Wilson's attorney general, the law made it illegal to share any information that could interfere with the war or stand to benefit foreign adversaries. It was meant as a safeguard against spying.
At the time those found guilty could be fined up to $10,000 and serve up to 20 years in jail, according the The History Channel.
Is espionage a state crime?
Most espionage crimes are investigated by the CIA or FBI, making them matters of federal jurisdiction and resultant in federal charges.
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What was the Sedition Act of 1918?
Passed as an amendmentto the Espionage Act of 1917, the Sedition Act made it prosecutable by law tomake false statements that interfered with the war effort, insult or abusethe U.S. government, flag, constitutionor military; and interfere with the production of war materials, according to The History Channel.It was also a crime under this act to advocate, teachor defend the former behavior.
The Sedition Act was wasrepealed by Congress in 1920 on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment.
READ THE SEARCH WARRANT:Read the FBI's search warrant for Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property
What is espionage?
This is both a philosophical and legal question. In it's strict definition, espionage is the practice of spying– usually to obtain confidential intelligence either ofa military or political nature.
Cornell Law School describes espionage as"thecrimeof spying or secretly watching a person,company, government, etc. for the purpose of gathering secret information or detecting wrongdoing, and to transfer such information to another organization orstate."
What is an example of espionage?
One famous example is that of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the couple convicted in a conspiracy to share atomic intelligence secrets with the Soviet Union.
They were executed at New York's Sing Sing Correctional Facility in June 1953. The couple is particularly famous for being the first citizens convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime, The History Channel reports.
Who has been charged under the Espionage Act?
A number of notable figures have been charged under the Espionage Act. Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, was indicted under the law in 2019 for his role in releasing secret military and government information during the Obama presidency.
Daniel Ellsberg is another prominent name to be tried under the Espionage Act. Ellsberg was set to face 115 years in prison, Vox reports, for his famous leaking of the Pentagon Papers concerning the status of the Vietnam War to The Washington Post and The New York Times.
What wasthe punishment for violating the Espionage Act?
When it was passed originally, the penalty for being convicted of espionage under the Espionage Act wasa fine of $10,000 or less and imprisonment fortwenty years or less. Both the fine and the prison sentence could be imposed in conjunction as well.
What is CUI Basic?
CUI stands for Controlled Unclassified Information and refers to a subset of CUIin which the authorizing law, regulation or government-wide policy does not set out specific guidelines forhandling or dissemination, according to The National Archives.
What are declassified documents?
Declassified means essentially to remove the previously prescribed "top secret"label.
Classified documents refer tothe kind of material that government agencies have deemedso sensitive to national security that access must be controlled and restricted,Jeffrey Fields, associate professor of the practice of international relations at USC, wrote in an article for The Conversation.
There's an elaborate procedure to declassify documents, Fields wrote, though the president has the power to declassify anything at any time in accordance withprovisions of theAtomic Energy Act.
DECLASSIFIED:Trump claims Mar-a-Lago documents were 'declassified.' Why experts reject that argument.
