The indictment supersedes an indictment unsealed in April on narrow grounds of attempting to help an Army private surreptitiously break into a government computer to steal classified and sensitive documents. It is aimed straight at the heart of the First Amendment. The new charges focus on receiving and publishing classified material from a government source. This is what the First Amendment is designed to protect: the ability of publishers to provide the public with the truth. The Espionage Act has been used against those who disclose classified information only rarely, for good reason.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2019 00:37 UTC