Sometimes it’s hard to figure out who’s worse: Trump or his critics. Trump clearly hit a new low with his disgraceful Helsinki press conference in which he took the word of Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies concerning Russian interference in the 2016 election. His performance was rightly greeted with almost universal scorn across the political spectrum. (Faced with overwhelming criticism, Trump now claims, no doubt disingenuously, that he “misspoke.”) Repeating a familiar pattern, however, some Trump critics couldn’t resist going beyond the merits and descending to his level with their own outrageous hyperbole.
The most egregious excess was the accusation that Trump’s statements at the press conference somehow amounted to “treason.” One might expect this kind of nonsense from late night TV comics and hopelessly biased politicians and pundits. However, respected columnist Thomas Friedman joined in as did former CIA Director John Brennan. Brennan’s version takes the cake. He tweeted:
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???”
These charges are baseless. Article III, section 3 of the Constitution states that “[t]reason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” Treason is the only crime specifically defined in the Constitution. It is well established that the definition can be met only when the United States is engaged in declared or open warfare with such “enemies.” One expert observed that the framers saw the need to define treason so narrowly and to place it in the Constitution in order to ensure that this concept was not weaponized for use against political opponents.
Of course, that is exactly what Trump’s critics are doing here. Such empty rhetorical excess plays into Trump’s hands by undermining the credibility of those who voice it—particularly Brennan, a central player in the intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference. It also serves to further politicize this already thoroughly politicized subject. The threat of continuing efforts by Russia to undermine the integrity of our elections is undoubtedly real, and it could become critical if the Russians (or other bad actors) are able to exploit our cyber vulnerabilities and penetrate state election machinery. Continuing to treat this subject as a political football and using it to bait Trump impedes the vital mission of investigating these threats thoroughly and objectively so we can adopt the necessary countermeasures.