With President Joe Biden now embroiled\u00a0in his own classified documents controversy, partisan commentators will surely have a field day playing the tired old game of \u201cno,\u00a0you\u00a0endangered national security.\u201d Instead, I\u2019d like to focus on the real issues: the overly broad and often-abused Espionage Act and the massive, draconian secrecy system that does far more harm than good in the United States.
\nThis should be yet another wake up call that both the classification system and the Espionage Act need a dramatic overhaul. The question is \u2014 as more secret documents are found at a\u00a0second Biden location\u00a0and Trump\u2019s\u00a0special prosecutor continues to work\u00a0\u2014 will anyone listen?
\nNow, before someone accuses me of \u201cboth side-ing\u201d the separate Trump and Biden scandals here: no, they are not the same. Trump had mountains of secret documents he purposefully absconded with that he both refused to give back and arguably lied to authorities about. Whereas it seems Biden\u2019s team actually alerted the authorities that the president had them in his office and is fully cooperating in their return.
\nBut here\u2019s the thing: that doesn\u2019t mean Biden didn\u2019t potentially violate the Espionage Act \u2013 at least\u00a0according to some legal experts.
\nThat\u2019s because the Espionage Act is incredibly broad and spares no one. As I\u2019ve explained before, even using the Espionage Act to go after Trump\u00a0should not be cheered on by Democrats. Instead of actual spies, the hundred year-old law is usually abused to prosecute whistleblowers and threaten journalists. But it\u2019s actually so broad that if you are a longtime reader of the Guardian, you\u2019ve probably technically broken the law too!
\n\u201cWhoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document\u2026relating to the national defense\u2026willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United\u00a0States\u00a0entitled to receive it\u201d is in violation of the statute.
\nThe Guardian, like every other major newspaper reporting on US news, has published documents the government considers classified or \u201cnational defense information.\u201d The Snowden files are only one example; there are likely countless others.
\nThankfully the First Amendment should ultimately protect both the Guardian and its readers from prosecution. (Ironically, first the Trump administration, and now the Biden administration may be trying to change that\u00a0with its unprecedented and dangerous charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.<\/p>\n