After Attorney General Merrick Garland gave the FBI the green light to raid former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, the Justice Department is claiming Trump “violated” the Espionage Act.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) is calling for the repeal of the Espionage Act, arguing the act has been “abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI.”
In a tweet, Paul said it is “long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment.”
Paul also included a link to a 2019 article by former Libertarian Party presidential candidate and founder of the Future of Freedom Foundation Jacob Hornberger, to which he calls the Espionage act a “tyrannical law.”
The espionage act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI. It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 13, 2022
Repeal the Espionage Act – The Future of Freedom Foundation https://t.co/3KCgujpS9z
The senator has been a long time supporter of Trump, repeatedly hitting back at Democrats for their criticism of him.
The Espionage Act has been used to prosecute infamous spies in the U.S. including Robert Hanssen and the criminal indictment of Julian Assange.
It has received countless disapproval that many claim that it is nearly impossible to create a defense against charges under the Espionage Act.
Meanwhile, Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md) called the FBI search “politically motivated.”
“The one side is gonna say that this is just politically motivated and weaponization of the Justice Department, but … they have probable cause to come after him for things that could be really important,” Hogan said during an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
He also added that this could be a potential win for Trump as he is reportedly set to announce his 2024 presidential campaign in a matter of weeks.