Presidential historian Jon Meacham said Tuesday that actions taken by Donald Trump may represent the “definition of treason.” This would be the case if Trump was aware of Russia‘s efforts to interfere and help him win the 2016 election.
Meacham, who is an expert on the history of U.S. presidents said:
“If, in fact, and it’s subjective, Trump knew about the Russian efforts on his behalf, then there is a live question about whether he has been giving aid and comfort to the enemy, which is the definition of treason in the Constitution.â€
“So, this isn’t just a who-wins-the-week, who-loses-the-week conversation. This is an existential constitutional crisis, because it’s quite possible that the president of the United States right now is a witting or at least partially witting agent of a foreign power, and I say that with great care, but that’s a possibility.â€
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“And I think that we have to somewhat tap the brakes on our ordinary assessment of things and realize that this is possibly the biggest kind of question we could confront as a democracy.”
Meacham has studied in great depth the Watergate investigation of President Richard Nixon. He noted that Nixon’s downfall came about after many investigations and in the middle of an economic downturn.
“What begins to happen in 1974, is you have the investigations, but you also have the economy souring,” Meacham said. “And that’s something to watch. One barometer about what’s going to happen to President Trump is … what the markets are doing.”
The historical parallels are obvious.
- Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian election interference, and Trump is facing many other investigations as well.
- There is evidence that high-ranking members of the Trump campaign colluded with and conspired with Moscow to affect the election and help Trump.
- Trump campaign officials Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, Michael Cohen and more than 20 Russians have been charged in connection to Mueller’s probe.
Trump is still in denial about all of this, much as Nixon was. The president has continually attacked the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt.” On Sunday he said that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions “should be ashamed of himself” for allowing it to proceed. He has said that the Michael Flynn charges are not warranted. He tweeted:
“It looks here as though General Flynn’s defenses are incidental to something larger which is for the prosecution to figure out if it can find a path to Donald Trump without quite knowing what that crime might be. It stops looking like prosecution and more looking like……
….a persecution of the President.†Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal. Thank you, people are starting to see and understand what this Witch Hunt is all about. Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started in the first place!â€
“It looks here as though General Flynn’s defenses are incidental to something larger which is for the prosecution to figure out if it can find a path to Donald Trump without quite knowing what that crime might be. It stops looking like prosecution and more looking like……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
….a persecution of the President.†Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal. Thank you, people are starting to see and understand what this Witch Hunt is all about. Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started in the first place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
But Trump posted those tweets before Flynn’s sentencing judge yesterday suggested that Flynn not only committed very serious crimes and had sold out the country, but also may be guilty of treason.
It’s interesting that on the same day a judge used the word treason to describe Flynn’s crimes, an eminent historian used the same word to describe Donald Trump’s behavior.
As more evidence comes out, and as Mueller issues additional indictments, it is very possible that we will see the word treason used more often to describe all of the many crimes the president and his associates have committed against the United States of America.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
