The majority of former President Donald Trump’s charges for mishandling classified documents stem from the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law that has often been used to silence dissent and go after whistleblowers. We speak with Chip Gibbons of Defending Rights & Dissent, who calls for reforming the Espionage Act. Regardless of Trump’s conduct, the Espionage Act is “basically unconstitutional” and should not be used as it is currently written, says Gibbons, and notes Trump himself used the Espionage Act to go after whistleblowers when he was in office.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
We continue to look at the arraignment of Donald Trump, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 37 federal counts, including 31 counts of violating the Espionage Act. Trump becomes the most high-profile person ever charged under the 1917 law.
While Trump was released without needing to post bail, many others charged under the Espionage Act have faced far different treatment under President Trump. For example, in 2017, U.S. intelligence contractor Reality Winner was arrested for leaking a single document about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. She was held without bail, ended up spending five years in prison. In 2019, former U.S. intelligence analyst Daniel Hale was arrested and held without bail for leaking documents about the secretive U.S. drone program. In 2021, he was sentenced to more than three years in prison. He remains locked...
This story is the second in an ongoing series on the Cost of Fraud, as Open the Books tallies the hidden fees on American tax returns. Click here to read the first story on fraudulent autism billi...