News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

Toe-Rag

The statute - 18 U.S.C. Section 793(f) - says nothing about intent. Comey read it in as a requirement for launching a prosecution. The intent he thought was required was as I described, not intent to harm the United States.
Interesting theory about Dotcom. He knew something. I also think that Wikileaks has more material than they released and that Dotcom knows it. His tweets during October suggest that he was expecting something more to drop. It could have been BS, as you say, but I think he knew something.
Guccifer 2.0 released different material from Wikileaks. He/she/it did not release emails.
Intent to harm the United States (or another nation) was not the intent Comey was looking for. It was intent to share national security information with people not authorized to receive it.