If a Senate staffer had inadvertently placed printouts of those same documents on a table in a common room, what then? Ethically, no one would take or read the documents. However if someone did take and read the documents, what would come of it? Not much.

I feel if someone places confidential documents on a share, without taking any security precautions whatsoever, that has to be taken into account. I'm not saying it is right to take and read the documents, but I don't feel the penalties should be as severe as if they were gained through outright hacking.

After all, it's not "breaking and entering" if the homeowner doesn't lock their door.

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