Sponsors (8)
The bill strengthens protections for covered federal employees and whistleblowers by raising intent standards and creating a public-interest defense, but it risks weakening deterrence and creating enforcement gaps for unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information.
Covered federal employees and government contractors will face criminal liability only when they acted with specific intent to harm the United States or benefit a foreign power, reducing the risk of prosecution for inadvertent or negligent disclosures.
People who publicly disclose evidence of legal violations, gross mismanagement, or substantial threats to public health or safety (including taxpayers who benefit) can assert a public-interest affirmative defense, offering legal protection to whistleblowers who reveal wrongdoing.
Defendants who are covered persons charged under espionage statutes may testify about their purpose (for example, exposing misconduct), allowing juries to consider motive when assessing culpability.
Taxpayers and national security interests could be harmed because requiring proof of specific intent may make it harder for DOJ to convict intentional leakers who lack provable specific intent, weakening deterrence against unauthorized disclosures of classified information.
Taxpayers and national security could face enforcement gaps because limiting liability to 'covered persons' and excluding certain foreign-agent categories may leave individuals without formal access or agreements able to leak sensitive information with reduced accountability.
Federal employees and government contractors may see increased litigation because a public-interest affirmative defense invites disputes over what qualifies as a 'violation' or 'substantial threat,' potentially allowing some harmful disclosures to be justified and complicating prosecutions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Tightens Espionage Act prosecutions by limiting liability to defined "covered persons" acting with specific intent and adds a public‑interest testimony and affirmative defense.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to increase the mens rea requirements for offenses under the Espionage Act.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Rashida Tlaib · Last progress March 12, 2026
Narrows criminal liability under the Espionage Act provisions (18 U.S.C. §§ 793 and 798) by limiting who can be prosecuted and by requiring a higher mental-state standard: prosecution applies to individuals who are a defined "covered person" acting with specific intent. It replaces broad "intent or reason to believe" language with "specific intent," adds definitions (including "covered person" and "foreign agent"), and creates new statutory protections: defendants may testify about their purpose and can assert an affirmative defense for public‑interest disclosures about legal violations, serious government wrongdoing, or substantial threats to public health or safety. The bill therefore shrinks the universe of prosecutable disclosures and builds in procedural and defense rights for people who reveal wrongdoing to the public.