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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums18 U.S. Code 2381 TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
18 U.S. Code § 2381
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
tRump qualifies for sure. I vote on DEATH!
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)We are afterall, the tiller and leader and moral compass of the free world. If conspiracy to take the birthright of 340 million Americans isn't enough for a firing squad...what is? And what's to stop the next cabal? A 5 year sentence in a private federal prison?
This was no mistake in the heat of passion...this is a well thought out and ongoing/evolving crime. THE HARSHEST of punishments belongs here.
DemKittyNC
(743 posts)100%.
If there was ever a need for the Death Penalty then this is it.
global1
(25,169 posts)I keep hearing mixed messages re: Trump and Treason. Seems to me under what you posted here - Trump does qualify. I've heard others on the cable news shows that what Trump is doing or has done - doesn't rise to the treasonous level.
elleng
(130,156 posts)person repug on the street treason: the action of betraying someone or something
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)So Treason et al. is a Sect. 2318 violation. Good to know.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-putin-questions-abound-ahead-helsinki-meeting-n891606
onenote
(42,383 posts)And the reason is that no prosecutor would bring such a charge. As a legal matter, the threshold issue is whether we're at war with Russia and whether they are an "enemy." For constitutional purposes, being an 'enemy' has a narrow meaning.
Referring back the US Code, the term "enemy" is defined in title 50 (War and National Defense), Section 2204: "the term "enemy" means any country, government, group, or person that has been engaged in hostilities, whether or not lawfully authorized, with the United States."
The term "hostilities" is not defined in title 50, but it is defined in title 10 (Armed Forces). Section 948a - "The term hostilities means any conflict subject to the laws of war."
Consider the normal attributes of two countries involved in a conflict that is subject to the laws of war: suspended diplomatic relations, suspended trade, suspended travel. We have diplomatic relations with Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will visit Russia as tourists. And we have billions in trade with Russia. Russia is not now, nor has it been in the past, designated an "enemy" for purposes of the Trading with the Enemies Act.
What the Russian military officers did was a crime, as reflected in the Mueller indictment. Americans, including Americans that are or were associated with the Trump campaign and/or administration likely will be named as co-conspirators with the Russians. Maybe Trump will be so named. But that still falls short of treason, just as the crimes for which the Rosenbergs, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and others were prosecuted did not include treason. And just as the activities of those of us who opposed US involvement in Vietnam were not prosecuted for treason, even when we engaged in activities that, according to some, gave aid and comfort to the North Vietnamese (such as counseling individuals on how to legally -- or illegally -- avoid the draft). Hell, some even claim Daniel Ellsberg committed treason by revealing the Pentagon Papers. That's the risk of giving the treason clause in the Constitution a broad reading -- it can be used in many ways.