06/15/09 June 15, 1917 - U.S. Congress passes Espionage Act On this day in 1917, some two months after America’s formal entrance into World War I against Germany, the United States Congress passes the Espionage Act. Enforced largely by A. Mitchell Palmer, the United States attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson, the Espionage Act essentially made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces’ prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies. Anyone found guilty of such acts would be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years.   On This Day Archives...