Ramaswamy has vowed to repeal the Espionage Act and tell the DOJ to halt its enforcement if he wins the Republican nomination for president.
As part of his charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, former President Donald Trump was charged with 31 counts of alleged violation of the Espionage Act, or the willful retention of national security information. Ramaswamy has vowed to forgive Trump in the past and has urged the other candidates for president to do the same.
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Ramaswamy began, “The Espionage Act is one of the most un-American laws Congress has ever enacted. If elected, I will ask Congress to repeal it and will instruct the U.S. Department of Justice to stop enforcing it in the meantime. Enacted by the Godfather of the Administrative State himself, Woodrow Wilson, the Act was passed to quash antiwar political dissent during World War I. It criminalized not only spying for enemies, but also any attempt to encourage ‘disloyalty’ among military ranks. Prosecutors enforced the act aggressively, using it to imprison hundreds of antiwar activists and political dissenters,”
“There are almost surely hundreds of violations of the Espionage Act every day, but politically disfavored opponents are the ones who are ultimately targeted. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was indicted under this law, but the Washington press corps reports leaked information with impunity,” the conservative entrepreneur added. “Of course, the U.S. must prosecute spies and protect national secrets, but the Espionage Act isn’t necessary to do so. More than a dozen more-specific federal statutes criminalize spying, hacking and misuse of government records.”
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Ramaswamy mentioned Trump’s argument that he had the sole authority to decide what documents he could take with him when he departed the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
“The Espionage Act nullifies, or at least confounds, subsequently enacted laws that apply to specific types of government documents. The Presidential Records Act of 1978 gives the president the sole authority to decide what records to take with him when he leaves office. The indictment of Mr. Trump, which doesn’t even mention the Presidential Records Act, suggests the Espionage Act is again a weapon against dissent, as it was in 1917. It’s time to end this century-old policy mistake. If I am elected, I will do it,” Ramaswamy concluded.
