# Espionage Act

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 2 sources.

An 18 U.S.C. Chapter 37 federal law, first passed in 1917, criminalizing the unauthorized gathering, retention or transmission of national-defense information. It has increasingly been used against government employees and contractors who leak classified information to journalists, rather than against spies working for other governments.

## Sources

1. The Obama Administration and the Press. https://cpj.org/reports/2013/10/obama-and-the-press-us-leaks-surveillance-post-911/ (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2013-10-10).
2. 18 U.S.C. 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793 (Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute).

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