Explainer | What is the US Espionage Act and what might it mean for Donald Trump?
- Former US president Donald Trump’s arraignment is set for Tuesday, at a federal court in Miami
- Trump is facing 37 charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, regarding his mishandling of classified material
Former US president Donald Trump has become the most high-profile person to ever face criminal charges under the Espionage Act for the unlawful retention of sensitive national defence records.
In all, Trump faces 37 criminal counts, 31 of which relate to secret or top secret classified documents. He is also charged with obstructing justice, conspiracy, concealment and false statements.
What is the espionage act?
The Espionage Act is an anti-spy law enacted by Congress shortly after the start of World War I.
The statute criminalises a broad array of conduct related to the mishandling of sensitive government records connected to the “national defence”, a term generally referring to military records that if disclosed could damage US national security.
Over the years, the law has been used as a legal tool by the Justice Department to prosecute people ranging from suspected Soviet spies to famous whistle-blowers like Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, and Edward Snowden, a former intelligence consultant who leaked classified National Security Agency records to reveal the existence of a domestic surveillance programme.
During the Obama and Trump administrations, some of the Justice Department’s most high-profile Espionage Act prosecutions targeted government employees who leaked classified information to the press or to the website WikiLeaks, such as former US Army Private First Class intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and former intelligence contractor Reality Winner.
