Do the Plotters of the ‘51 Intel Experts’ Coup Deserve Prison?

People of a certain age will remember the name “Donald Segretti.”  In the 1972 re-election campaign of President Richard Nixon, this youthful campaign aide made the phrase “dirty tricks” part of the American political lexicon.  Segretti’s mischief included sending embarrassing letters under the names of Nixon’s political rivals.  Although his dirty tricks had little or no effect on the election’s outcome, Segretti served four and a half months in prison.

With Segretti’s four and a half months as...