Sponsors (8)
The bill increases legal protections for cleared insiders and whistleblowers by narrowing criminal liability and adding a public‑interest defense, but does so at the cost of making some unauthorized disclosures harder to prosecute and potentially creating enforcement gaps that could harm national security.
Covered persons (cleared federal employees and contractors) face a higher scienter requirement and thus have a reduced risk of criminal liability for inadvertent or negligent disclosures of protected information.
People who disclose evidence of legal violations, gross mismanagement, or substantial threats to public health or safety (including whistleblowing federal employees) can assert a public‑interest affirmative defense, giving legal protection for certain public disclosures.
Defendants charged under espionage statutes may present testimony about their purpose (e.g., exposing misconduct), allowing juries to consider motive when assessing culpability.
Prosecutors and national security authorities may have a harder time obtaining convictions in intentional-leak cases that lack provable 'specific intent,' weakening deterrence against unauthorized disclosures and potentially increasing risk to classified information.
The public‑interest affirmative defense may trigger litigation over what counts as a qualifying 'violation' or 'substantial threat,' potentially allowing harmful disclosures to be justified and complicating prosecutions.
Limiting liability to 'covered persons' and excluding certain foreign‑agent categories could create enforcement gaps if individuals without formal access or agreements leak sensitive information, leaving some national-security risks unaddressed.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Limits prosecution under espionage-related statutes to defined "covered persons" acting with specific intent and adds defenses for public‑interest disclosures and testimony about purpose.
Narrows who can be criminally prosecuted under the espionage-related statutes by limiting liability to specified “covered persons” who act with "specific intent," adds definitions for covered persons and foreign agents, and creates new statutory protections that let defendants explain their purpose and assert an affirmative defense for disclosures made to expose legal violations, serious government wrongdoing, or substantial threats to public health or safety. The changes amend 18 U.S.C. §§ 793 and 798 and add new sections 799A–799B to allow testimony about purpose and to protect certain public‑interest disclosures from criminal liability.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Rashida Tlaib · Last progress March 12, 2026