“How can the national security team be held accountable for violating the Espionage Act without the Department of Justice?”
— Robin
Hi Robin,
The Eric Adams case was a good reminder that the Justice Department can’t be forced to prosecute anyone. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already indicated that the department she leads won’t criminally investigate Trump administration officials’ unsecured communications that tipped off a journalist on impending military strikes. And if there won’t be a federal investigation, then it stands to reason that there won’t be federal prosecutions.
So, if you define accountability as federal prosecution under the Espionage Act, then there won’t likely be any — at least not during this administration.
I add that caveat because criminal statutes of limitations run longer than presidential terms. If the next administration’s DOJ leadership isn’t beholden to Trump, then anyone who commits federal crimes during his term could be prosecuted under any charges whose periods of limitations haven’t run out. But any analysis of whether someone will be federally prosecuted for anything that happens until Trump leaves office must account for his prolific use of the pardon power. If there’s even a slight risk that anyone he feels compelled to help could face a federal prosecution that he doesn’t want them to face, then he has the power to stop that — and he has shown a willingness to use that power broadly. Have any questions or comments for me? Please submit them on this form for a chance to be featured in the Deadline: Legal blog and newsletter.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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