In 1917 Congress passed the Espionage Act to punish people who transmit information to a foreign government or entity "with intent or reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation." This act has become popular with the Obama administration. It has used the act six times; all prior administrations used it three times.
The administration apparently has stressed the 'injury of the United States' aspect of the law, as their prosecutions have concerned administrative secrecy rather than national security. They seem to feel that the people’s right to know does not supersede the government’s right to hide its business. For example, they charged a former CIA officer for leaking to journalists information about CIA people involved in waterboarding. Yet, no one has been charged with waterboarding, a form of torture.
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