Sen.
Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Saturday called for the end of the Espionage Act,
less than a week after the FBI's search of former President Donald
Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
"The
espionage act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI.
It is long pastime to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st
Amendment," he wrote on Twitter.
On Aug. 8, FBI agents took 11 sets of classified documents, according
to the search warrant and a property receipt, both of which were
released Friday. Some documents were labeled as "secret" or "top
secret." The warrant showed the investigation was examining possible
violations of the Espionage Act.
That's
a move we can support. It is useless. The verdict is commonly (and
wrongly) referred to as the you-can't-yell-fire-in-a-crowded-theater
ruling. And it is abused. Julian Assange, for example, an Australian
citizen is being accused of breaking the Espionage Act. It's time to
end that act and all the nonsense that came with it.