Connect with us

Politics

Why Rand Paul Wants the Espionage Act RepealExBulletin

Why Rand Paul Wants the Espionage Act RepealExBulletin

 


Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., calls for the repeal of the Espionage Act. Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images .

. Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., calls for the repeal of the Espionage Act.

Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is seeking the repeal of the Espionage Act as part of a federal investigation into whether former President Donald Trump violated the law.

“The Espionage Act was abused from the start to imprison World War I dissenters. It is high time to repeal this flagrant affront to the 1st Amendment,” Paul wrote.

The statement comes less than a week after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Investigators have taken multiple sets of classified documents to determine whether Trump violated a range of top secret information laws. So far, he has not been charged as part of the investigation.

It would be the first time in US history that a former president has been investigated under the Espionage Act, but it’s not the first time the law has been investigated. under scrutiny, experts say. Indeed, although Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing, keeping classified documents is against the law.

What is the law and how does it stand today

The Espionage Act was passed in 1917, months after the United States entered World War I. The original law prohibited people from obtaining or disclosing national defense information that could be used to harm the United States or benefit another country.

That description has helped prosecute some spies, but it has increasingly been used to threaten or prosecute those who leak sensitive information, George Mason University history professor Sam Lebovic told NPR.

Under the Obama administration, eight people have been charged with leaking national security secrets to the media under the Espionage Act, more than all previous administrations combined. At least six other fugitives have been charged under the Trump administration, according to Lebovic.

Over the years, press freedom advocates have expressed concern that administrations carefully select leaked information that is considered a threat to national security.

“Government officials leak classified information to the press all the time. That’s how huge amounts of journalism happens,” Lebovic said. “Most things are dropped and allowed. Only the cases that have really upset the government in power are the ones that are prosecuted.”

Why some are calling for a review of the law

Heidi Kitrosser, a law professor at Northwestern University, told NPR the danger of the law is that it’s too vague and too broad.

The law does not explicitly define what “national defense” is or what information could threaten it, she added. Although the United States has since created a classification system, there is still a lot of room for interpretation.

Of more concern to Kitrosser, the law does not explicitly care about the public interest or whether the landlord in question had good motives. This is why a wide range of people may be at risk.

“If the act had a public interest defense, it would give us some sort of focal point so that we could distinguish between someone leaking information about abuse of a government program to the US media and someone one storing highly classified secrets in a resort hotel,” she said.

Senator Rand Paul said the law was used to imprison dissidents during World War I. Is it true?

Yes, but it would be difficult for the law to be applied in the same way today, Lebovic said.

The anecdote Paul mentions has to do with an early section of the law that targeted people who spoke out against the war.

About 1,000 people were imprisoned for criticizing World War I, but the effort drew intense criticism, according to Lebovic. In 1920, lawmakers repealed the law’s harshest censorship articles. Over the coming decades, the rise of the First Amendment movement also helped protect dissenting speech.

That being said, Lebovic said the Espionage Act still raises concerns about censorship and dissent.

“There has been a change in the way censorship works, the government no longer censors expression, opinion or speech. It now censors information,” he said.

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.npr.org/2022/08/15/1117457622/rand-paul-what-is-espionage-act-repeal

The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos

ExBUlletin

to request, modification Contact us at Here or [email protected]