Trump and Obstructionist Republicans Arguably Guilty of Treason
Arguably, there is sufficient evidence to indict Trump for treason, as well as obstructionist Republicans in Congress, for opposing aid to Ukraine and supporting Putin notwithstanding his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The same applies to American propagandists against Ukraine and for Russia. Publicly known and documented facts indicate conclusively that we are allied with Ukraine in its fight for survival against Russia, a cruel, egregiously immoral aggressor, which invaded a peaceful non-threatening Ukraine, committing innumerable violations of international law, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Russia is clearly our enemy, even in the absence of a declaration of war or direct military confrontation.
We are clearly allied with Ukraine, even though it is not a member of NATO, through enormous amounts of military and financial aid over the past two years. In addition, due to the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 we are also morally and legally obligated to help Ukraine repel Russia from all its territory and obtain reparations for the destruction of infrastructure and human casualties caused by Russia. In fact, the Budapest Memorandum obligates the United States to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for Ukraine handing over to Russia all its nuclear weapons. Ukraine fulfilled its side of the bargain, therefore the United States must fulfill its side of the bargain as per contract law, even though Congress did not vote on the Budapest treaty. Had Ukraine not fulfilled its contractual obligation, the United States would not be obligated to defend Ukraine in the absence of a treaty validated by the Senate.
The Constitution defines treason in Article III, Section 3: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Trump along with many Republican Representatives and Senators are actively opposing any aid to Ukraine at a time of extreme urgency, refusing to even have a bi-partisan Senate bill voted on in the House of Representatives. That is giving aid to the enemy. In addition, they are publicly arguing against aiding Ukraine and praising Russia. That is giving comfort to the enemy. Trump has gone so far as to violate the terms of the NATO treaty (which has the force of law, being “the supreme law of the land” as per the Constitution, Article VI) by publicly stating that he would encourage Russia to invade any NATO allies not contributing sufficiently to their own defense. That is a violation of the NATO treaty, of our own law. In fact, according to the NATO treaty, failure of any member state to reach the 2% of GDP level of annual defense expenditures is not a basis for withholding assistance in case of attack. The 2% figure is an aspirational level, not a level which if not reached invalidates the right to be defended by the NATO allies. Trump is clearly giving aid and comfort to our enemy.
Arguably, Trump has also committed treason by having private, undisclosed conversations with Putin, a dictator who had already invaded another sovereign nation, Georgia, and violated human rights repeatedly within his own country in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is undersigned by all UN member nations. Trump suspiciously insisted, against normal practice, to have his private Putin meetings with no American interpreter present to transcribe the conversation. We have no record of what was said during those private meetings. Adding that to the fact that Trump illegally took highly classified documents to his home in Florida and stored them where Russian agents could easily access them, it is not unreasonable to suspect that Trump has passed on state secrets to the Russians. Then there is the fact that Putin interfered on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 presidential election, as Trump requested (v. Hillary Clinton’s emails); and the fact that during a press conference after a private meeting with Putin, Trump shockingly stated that he believed Putin’s denial of election interference over his own National Security Director’s contrary assertion.
Now we have just had the unexplained death (most probably an officially ordered murder) in a Russian prison of Andrei Navalny, the pro-democracy political opponent of Putin. Multiple political opponents of Putin have been murdered, some through poisoning (as happened to Navalny a few years ago in a Russian airplane, from which he miraculously recovered when the innocent pilot of the plane he was on made an emergency stop to allow Navalny to be hospitalized just in time to save him), some through shootings, some through falling out of windows from high floors. Trump has made no comment, nor have the many pro-Russia, pro-Putin Republican representatives and senators. That is giving comfort to the enemy.
Furthermore, the January 6 insurrection was openly incited by Trump, and that is a betrayal of our Constitution and of our democracy, it is waging war against the nation. He did nothing to stop the invasion of the Capitol for hours, clearly hoping it would succeed in preventing the Electoral College count, thereby delaying Biden’s becoming president. Trump probably planned to use that delay to call a state of emergency and postpone the count indefinitely, pending new investigations of election fraud. If chaos ensued, he probably planned to impose martial law and call for new elections a year later. Those elections he would probably have had rigged to ensure his victory. We would never emerge from his police state.
It is public knowledge that Putin has financed multiple politicians of European democratic nations, making them pro-Russia and pro-dictatorship. It is naïve to believe that he has not financed and corrupted various American politicians and activists, in order to have them act to undermine our democracy and loyalty to our allies. Putin has most certainly often given them instructions, given his expertise as a KGB officer for decades.
How can all the above not arguably disqualify Trump from running for president, and not mean that Trump and his pro-Putin/anti-Ukraine Republican allies should be indicted for treason? It is shocking that so many Americans have voted for Trump not just once but twice, and are still backing him, despite his serious character flaws, the January 6 insurrection, the false electors, his opposition to defending Ukraine, his not criticizing Putin for his illegal invasion of Ukraine (calling it “genius”!), and his not criticizing Putin for the murder of Alexei Navalny. It seems Trump voters would have been pro-Hitler in the 1930’s.
It is crucially important to carefully read and understand exactly what the Second Amendment says about gun rights. It states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” That clearly means that the right to keep and to bear arms is subject to being connected to militia activities, all of which are to be regulated by the states and commanded by the president (Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution). Therefore, the constitutional right of citizens to keep and bear arms does not extend to walking around public places with guns and other weapons outside of a militia legally organized by a state and commanded by the president. Just as Hitler had a militia which helped him take over the German government, it seems Trump wants gangs of armed followers in addition to state militias, to help him stay in power or take over with an armed insurrection. If reelected, he would no doubt form a personal militia (a “Presidential Guard” just like Putin) and deploy state militias for his own purposes. He should be blocked before it’s too late. Hitler was not blocked before it was too late.
© Edward Sonnino 2024
February 21, 2024
