The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. July 30, 2010 Justice Dept Explores Espionage Charges Against WikiLeaks --------------------------------------------------------- The New York Times reports Justice Department lawyers are exploring whether the whistleblowing website Wiki Leaks and its founder Julian Assange could be charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for publishing the classified Afghan war documents. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has already called for the criminal prosecution of Wiki Leaks. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates denounced the leaking of the documents. Robert Gates: "The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world." .