![]() ![]() This law is part of the infamous Espionage Act of 1917, parts of which also include a gross-negligence standard, meaning a prosecutor does not have to prove specific intent in all cases. Intent is mentioned repeatedly throughout the law, sometimes restated as purpose, reason, and the like. anything connected with the national defense" has violated federal law. ![]() ![]() ยงยง 793, titled "Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information," says (emphasis added), that "Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation. The three laws mentioned in the Mar-a-Lago search warrant all specifically require proving intent-Trump's mental objective in taking a classified document-or its equivalent: Based on the laws cited on the search warrant, it is what matters most in Mar-a-Lago. The action itself is often easy to prove, while the thought pattern-what was in someone's head, the mental objective behind an action-much less so. Intent separates the "what" from the "why." It's the difference between a mistake, error, or misstatement, and an actual crime. The concept of intent is planted throughout American law and holds that to establish many crimes (including incitement, most forms of tax evasion, and sedition), the accused must have not only committed some objectively criminal act, like stirring up a crowd that proceeds to commit violence, but he had to have done it with a criminal purpose in mind. But there is one more step to prove, often overlooked in Twitter analysis, and that is intent. ![]()
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