{"id":1947756,"date":"2023-06-15T03:12:05","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T07:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-doj-and-special-counsel-jack-smiths-sordid-history-of-weaponizing-the-espionage-act\/"},"modified":"2023-06-15T03:17:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T07:17:02","slug":"the-doj-and-special-counsel-jack-smiths-sordid-history-of-weaponizing-the-espionage-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-doj-and-special-counsel-jack-smiths-sordid-history-of-weaponizing-the-espionage-act\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ and Special Counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s misuse of the Espionage Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-doj-and-special-counsel-jack-smiths-sordid-history-of-weaponizing-the-espionage-act%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1947756&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Lawfare Cabal Targets Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Barely two weeks ago, the lawfare cabal at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/86771\/model-prosecution-memo-for-trump-classified-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Just Security<\/a>, led by Andrew Weissmann, the former senior prosecutor for the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation, released the second edition of their \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/just-security-model-prosecution-memo-trump-classified-documents-second-edition-june-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">model prosecution memorandum<\/a>\u201d to (presumably) help out his former colleagues at the Department of Justice (DOJ). The document seeks to offer up nearly any theory of law to \u201cget Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just Security bills itself as \u201can online forum for the rigorous analysis of security, democracy, foreign policy, and rights,\u201d but in practice, the organization, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funded in part by George Soros\u2019 Open Society Foundations<\/a>, is the legal beachhead of the Trump resistance. Their model document provides 186 pages of \u201cthrow the book at him\u201d musings along with 222 separate footnotes and has largely telegraphed the DOJ\u2019s legal strategy. The document is supported by a variety of public and nonpublic allegations (surely a mixture of leaked information and fabricated information if history is any guide). The fact that their roadmap nearly parallels the now-public indictment of former President Donald Trump is surely a coincidence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1601348308\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4cd81f1a6c2aff35deb4b17c798f6d62 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4cd81f1a6c2aff35deb4b17c798f6d62\"><\/div>\n<h2>Prosecuting Leaks and Foreign Spies<\/h2>\n<p>The \u201cdocument retention\u201d portion of the Espionage Act states:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>\u00a7793. Gathering, transmitting or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-unseals-mar-a-lago-raid-warrant-reveals-why-fbi-is-investigating-trump\/\" title=\"Judge Unseals Mar-a-Lago Raid Warrant, Reveals Why FBI Is Investigating Trump\">losing defense information<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(e) Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, <strong><em>or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it\u2026<\/em><\/strong> <em>(emphasis added)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Prominently in their model prosecution memorandum related to the Espionage Act is the acknowledgment that the statute is typically used for \u201cleaking cases and foreign government spies.\u201d Dismissing the DOJ\u2019s historical circumspection regarding its applicability, the document proceeds to weave together a basis to charge Trump under the statute. It is unclear if the fan fiction roadmap was needed, as the record shows that the DOJ is in fact quite adept at using 18 U.S.C. 793 (e) as a cudgel to punish its political enemies. Take for instance the case of Thomas A. Drake.<\/p>\n<h2>Government Cudgels a Political Enemy<\/h2>\n<p>Drake Joined the National Security Agency (NSA) as an executive on Sept. 11, 2001. He quickly became concerned about illegal activities, waste, and mismanagement within the agency. Accordingly, he attempted to raise concerns through standard channels and even elevated his concerns to Congress as a whistleblower.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, after getting nowhere trying to blow the lid off both financial waste and abuse of Americans\u2019 fundamental civil rights via certain NSA surveillance programs, he decided to leak certain controlled information to a media contact. The resulting stories about the Trailblazer program published in The Baltimore Sun in 2006 and 2007 embarrassed Michael Hayden\u2019s NSA.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1efa0cad8806ed724b04ea2d9588f0d5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1efa0cad8806ed724b04ea2d9588f0d5\"><\/div>\n<p>Our government rewarded his efforts in November 2007 with a raid on his home, initially suspecting him of being the source of the leaks that disclosed the agency\u2019s warrantless wiretapping in a 2005 New York Times expose. He denied having anything to do with those leaks but acknowledged providing unclassified information to The Baltimore Sun.<\/p>\n<p>After the raid of his home, which caused him to lose his job, the government sat on the case for nearly three years before indicting him in April 2010. The indictment levied five counts of willful retention of National Defense Information (the Espionage Act charges), one charge of obstruction of justice, and four counts of false statements, but the case was eventually pleaded to a misdemeanor. At sentencing, <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/jud\/drake\/071511-transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the judge excoriated the government<\/a>, first for wasting the court\u2019s time only to settle the case on the eve of trial for a misdemeanor, and second for jerking around the defendant for as long as they did.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>THE COURT: What message is sent by the government, Mr. Welch \u2026 when the government dismisses a ten-count indictment a year after indictment, on the eve of trial, after days and days of hearings under the Classified Information and Procedures Act, and in what I find to be an extraordinary position taken by the government, probably unprecedented in this courthouse, for a case of this profile, literally on a Thursday afternoon before a Monday trial, subject to the government to be prepared as you will in a moment to dismiss the entire ten-count indictment and allow the defendant to plead guilty to a misdemeanor?<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>THE COURT: And as I tell you, as I say to you, Mr. Welch, I find it extraordinary. I even talked to one of my colleagues about it, his career background is similar to mine, I find it extraordinary in this case for an individual\u2019s home to be searched in November of 2007, for the government to have no explanation for a two year delay, not a two and a half year delay, for him to then be indicted in April of 2010, and then over a year later, on the eve of trial, in June of 2011, the government says, whoops, we dropped the whole case.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Judge Rebukes the Government<\/h2>\n<p>The government never proved that any leaked information was classified, and the national defense information he did retain was consistent with his initial protected whistleblower activities. Notably, the Espionage Act charges were all dropped. Ultimately, Drake pled guilty to the misdemeanor of exceeding the authorized use of a government computer. The offense did not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/documents-found-at-biden-office-raise-concerns-of-ccp-connection\/\" title=\"Documents Found at Biden Office Raise Concerns of CCP Connection\">involve mishandling classified information<\/a>. According to the judge, the government\u2019s explanation for their delays didn\u2019t \u201cpass the smell test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Without a viable case, the government still did everything to break this man and sought $50,000 in fines for the misdemeanor. After actually praising Drake, the judge gave him probation with no fine and called the government\u2019s conduct \u201cunconscionable\u201d \u2014\u00a0a remarkable defeat for the government, which tried to brand Drake as a traitor to his country.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3c7783d76ad1a9c83ef5104b80756ba7 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3c7783d76ad1a9c83ef5104b80756ba7\"><\/div>\n<p>Judge Richard Bennett also presciently warned: \u201cIt is at the very root of what this country was founded on against general warrants of the British. It was one of the most fundamental things in the Bill of Rights that this country was not to be exposed to people knocking on the door with government authority and coming into their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apparently unmoved by the judge\u2019s warning was the DOJ\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-doj-and-special-counsel-jack-smiths-sordid-history-of-weaponizing-the-espionage-act\/\" title=\"DOJ and Special Counsel Jack Smith's misuse of the Espionage Act\">public integrity section chief overseeing<\/a> the case: Jack Smith. Smith, who signed off on the government\u2019s embarrassing retreat in the Drake case, was also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-mdtn\/pr\/doj-public-integrity-section-chief-take-number-two-post-us-attorneys-office-nashville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">later responsible for the 2014 indictment and conviction <\/a>of Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, infamously reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court in 2016. Chief Justice John Roberts, <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/579\/15-474\/case.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">writing for the court<\/a>, criticized the prosecution\u2019s \u201cboundless\u201d interpretation of the statute and called the case \u201cdistasteful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith is now the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>With the entire intelligence apparatus, FBI, and DOJ lined up against him, the former president is in genuine legal peril, and it remains to be seen if he will ultimately prevail. But even if Trump\u2019s lawyers help him \u201cbeat the rap\u201d by successfully maneuvering around the DOJ\u2019s partisan weaponization of the Espionage Act led by a zealous Smith, it is not entirely clear if he\u2019ll <a href=\"https:\/\/www.haslettlaw.com\/blog\/2013\/november\/-you-may-beat-the-rap-but-you-cant-beat-the-ride\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">beat the ride<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/rootsaction.salsalabs.org\/the-ghost-of-j-edgar-hoover-hovers-over-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Drake certainly has not<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/sdut-former-virginia-gov-mcdonnell-pays-hefty-price-2016sep08-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">McDonnell certainly has not<\/a>. One might be forgiven if they come to the conclusion that maybe that\u2019s the entire point of all of this.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just Security&#8217;s lawfare cabal, led by Andrew Weissmann, recently released their second edition of a &#8220;model prosecution memorandum&#8221; to aid former colleagues at the DOJ. The document aims to provide extensive guidance on various legal matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2120,"featured_media":1947757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[9130,7076,12646,7317,23081,14434,7262],"class_list":["post-1947756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-counsel","tag-doj","tag-espionage","tag-jack","tag-misuse","tag-smiths","tag-special"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1947756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1947756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1947756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1947756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}