Last edited Wed Dec 19, 2018, 08:23 AM - Edit history (1)
Treason is the only crime defined in the US Constitution. Article III, sec. 3 of the Constitution provides THE definition of treason and says that ONLY this definition constitutes treason (this was to clearly reject the old British notion of "constructive treason" which had been used for almost anything including holding an office when Parliament might have wanted someone else to be appointed to it). The definition includes waging war against the US or adhering to their [the US's] enemies. That's ENEMIES, not just any foreign power but enemies, which sort of implies a state of war between the US and that other power.
Russia might not be our good friend, but it's not at war with us and it's questionable whether it fits the category of an ENEMY. Since the Constitution's definition speaks of 'enemies' there is some reason to doubt that cozying up to Russia fits the definition of treason. If we got sloppy about the meaning of treason we might have considered Nixon a traitor for opening up relations with Communist China, since it had, in a previous generation, been an adversary in the Korean Conflict - an actual shooting-at-us wartime enemy, something that Russia has avoided. But it is important not to get sloppy about Constitutional terms.
= new reply since forum marked as read
