Tom Coleman: It's Not a Liberal Fantasy to Ask if Trump Committed Treason

[Miles Archer]

It’s Not a Liberal Fantasy to Ask if Trump Committed Treason

https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-not-a-liberal-fantasy-to-ask-if-trump-committed-treason?via=twitter_page

Under the Constitution an individual commits treason if the nation is at war and the person provides aid and comfort to the enemy. This is an impeachable offense, committed by word or deed. It's one that individuals need to start grappling with seriously because it is not some far-fetched liberal fantasy to conclude that Donald Trump may have committed treason.

In fact, the case is fairly simple to make.

The U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian activities in the 2016 presidential election concluded that Russia tried to influence the outcome through the dissemination and weaponization of information stolen from the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The thirteen Russian operatives indicted by the Special Counsel for waging a disinformation campaign through our social media platforms and other internet media, described their activity as “information warfare against the United States of America.”

The question we must now ask is were these Russian cyber attacks merely crimes on a massive scale, or, as cyber expert George Lucas asks, do they represent something different — acts of war? And if a state of war existed between the two nations, could the actions and comments of Donald Trump and his campaign officials therefore be considered treasonable?

[ollie10]

1. Trump probably has colluded with Russia....

...but he most certainly has refused to protect America from future Russian aggression. That may be even worse than collusion. And it is right in front of our eyes and not subject to dispute.

[kurtcagle]

2. Reasonably yes

But making the case for treason is very, very difficult (the definition of treason has a deliberately high bar to it, one reason it has been so very seldom used). I think what is emerging in the investigations is a racketeering case, which CAN be proven in a court of law as the evidence for it is forensic. What I think most people on the Democratic side are coming to understand is that Trump may very well have performed treasonable actions, but ultimately it will be a combination of bribery, money laundering, tax evasion and fraud that will bring him down.

[Cicada]

3. Were not at war with Russia so helping them isn't treason

Treason requires waging war on the US, helping a nation the US has declared war on, or helping a group or country engaging in war with the US. Rosenberg gave our atomic secrets to the USSR but wasn’t charged with treason.

[asiliveandbreathe]

6. uncharted waters re - cyber warfare...need to redefine "nation at war"

would so welcome our country to face the facts..Russia declared cyber warfare....and the pos aiding and abetting this effort should NOT go unpunished....

[Cicada]

7. Treason requires real war, physical force

The issue of what war means for treason has been addressed in courts. It has to be real war, physical violence.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. This is a constitutional duty of all Americans, after all, we all swear

allegiance to the flag and country, so it's the rights of all Americans, not just liberals if treason occurred. Or, are the repugs denying this (the treason or the liberal's right to support the constitution of the US? Or both? Sounds like they are saying both things)...if they denying that treason occurred and it comes out later that in fact it did (treason), then they are guilty of it too (trying to aid and abet the treason itself).

What else is there to say? The fact is that over 20 indictments have occurred and that in fact, guilty pleas have been rendered and entered into judgment, with the first person being interred into prison just a week or so ago.

So far from my perspective is that it's not looking good at all for RUMP team, not at all. The louder they get, the more strident their voices get, it does make you really wonder what other ugly secrets are hidden beneath all of the rocks that the repugs are hiding under.

They already know how long other investigations have taken, they already know what the results of those prior investigations were. Perhaps this is why they seem to be getting louder and more desperate?

Hum?

[asiliveandbreathe]

5. We are in unchartered waters - perhaps "nation at war" will be redefined

in the near future..would be nice, and make it retroactive to this action taken by Russia and by this POS.....cyber warfare - aiding and abetting the enemy - okay by me...