Parsing the morality of leaking top-secret information isn’t easy. The latest example: a classified National Security Agency report on evidence of Russian hacking of the US elections was leaked to a news outlet. The leaker broke US law, and violated security clearance and a national trust. That individual could face serving as many as 10 years in prison.

Of course, when President Trump reportedly leaked classified information to Russian officials about a potential terrorist attack using laptop computers, that was also controversial. But it was his prerogative as commander in chief.

Both leaks could be described as morally wrong or morally defensible. But only one leaker faces prosecution.

Still, there’s another aspect of Monday’s NSA leak worth noting. The NSA report states that the 2016 cybersecurity breach was conducted by the GRU, a Russian military intelligence outfit. That means that it could be classified as a military attack, say cybersecurity experts.

For editors and citizens, the temptation is to focus on the politics of Washington leaks or “witch hunts” or possible collusion with Russia. But the outcome is still likely to be a weakening of voters’ confidence in the US electoral system. If the NSA report is true, this was a Russian attack on democracy. Perhaps a more relevant, if less scintillating question may be, How will the United States prevent such attacks in the next election?