They could have, I agree. What I don't understand is their obligation not to offer a genuinely held opinion about a public policy issue on their editorial page.
I agree that the editorial was hypocritical and should have made mention of the Post's own role.
There's no way such an editorial could fail to be hypocritical unless it said, We're returning our Pulitzer and firing our news team that worked on the story. Otherwise they've received benefit from what they themselves are arguing was an illegal and irresponsible act.
If the members of the editorial board who feel this way had quit, they would then be in a position to express their opinion in another venue without hypocrisy.
Anyway, it's a sad day for American journalism. They've guaranteed that the Post will never again be offered leaked material. I will be very surprised if they don't lose some of their newspeople over this.
I agree that the editorial was hypocritical and should have made mention of the Post's own role.