4 Arrested, Charged With Espionage, Whether or Not They Have Lawyers Uncertain

Now, I'm not saying it's not espionage. It happens. And it's a bad thing, a very bad thing. But are we presumed guilty before judged innocent these days is my question.

From the Washington Post:

"Federal agents today arrested four people on espionage charges, including a Defense Department employee from Alexandria, and accused them of passing classified information to China that included details about the Space Shuttle and U.S. military sales to Taiwan...

"It was not immediately clear how much, if any, damage the alleged espionage did to U.S. national security. Justice Department officials are planning to discuss the cases at a news conference this afternoon, and the four defendants are scheduled to appear in federal courts. It was unclear if lawyers for them had been appointed.

"But DOJ officials said the cases reflect the determination of China's government to penetrate U.S. intelligence and obtain vital national defense secrets."

Maybe so. And if so, that ain't good. Details disclose what the men are accused of doing here (please do read them, this is not a clear picture of the situation):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021101283.html

At the same time, doesn't look like the proper way to go about trying people for treason... unclear evidence of actual damage, unclera lawyers... I don't like secrets sold to China one bit, but I don't know that I like this either. Please do add some insight here if you have it. This one has me stumped.