07 Jun TREASON!

“Are members of America’s government guilty of treason?” – The Lonely Realist

An American commits treason, as defined in Article III, Section 3, of the Constitution, if he or she wages war against America, or conspires with America’s enemies to wage war against America, or gives “aid and comfort” to America’s enemies (“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.” Treason is a capital crime under 18 U.S. Code § 2381.) Although it’s been many decades since any American was indicted for waging war against America or conspiring with America’s enemies to do so, there are any number of current and former government officials who quite clearly have given “Aid and Comfort” to American’s enemies by undermining America’s Constitution. Should they be indicted for treason?

Let’s be clear. The definition of giving “Aid and Comfort” to America’s enemies is broad. It includes both overt assistance and the mere effort to damage America and aid its enemies. For example, undermining America’s ability to defend itself is treasonous. Actual help or even relative success is not relevant. This encompasses the straightforward dictionary definition of “treason”: the betrayal of trust or confidence. Betraying trust in America’s government, undercutting its Constitutional foundations, most certainly is treasonous.

Is there anyone during Joe Biden’s 4 years in office who might have committed treason by betraying trust in America’s Constitution?

As TLR noted some years ago, the Biden years were characterized by an absence of Presidential public engagement. We rarely saw or heard from Joe Biden. Although he entered office with decades of experience in the Senate and as Vice President, there also was little evidence of executive decision-making. We suspected why then and now know the reason. Policies appeared diffuse…, and they were. Despite his knowledge of government processes and of the roles to be played by family members and appointees, President Biden was oblivious to his appointees’ notable instances of mismanagement and failure. During the entirety of his 4-year term President Biden neither rebuked nor fired any cabinet member. As TLR consistently pointed out, the failure to make cabinet-level changes is unique in modern American history. The Biden Administration veered away from addressing problems head-on, whether immigration, the Southern Border invasion, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Ukraine War, etc., and refused to acknowledge error. It failed to adhere to Joe Biden’s moderate campaign platform, instead adopting the Progressive and woke policies of what we now understand to have been a Biden cabal. Decision-making lacked clear and decisive executive validation. We all noted Joe Biden’s countless gaffes and his stiff gait. We understood and forgave the effects of old age. And too many readily dismissed Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that was unduly gentle in describing Joe Biden’s mental acuity. The fact is that during much of his term, Joe Biden was not competent to execute the office of the Presidency. And those around him knew it and hid it. America was being governed not by an elected President, but by a committee of unelected Presidential enablers. As TLR wrote in 2024 in urging Congress to impeach President Biden, “Being President of the United States is the hardest and most demanding job in the world … and Joe Biden is not up to it.”

Members of the Biden Administration and senior Democratic Party officeholders were co-conspirators in the cover-up. Were they guilty of treason? Were their anti-Constitutional acts equivalent to giving “Aid and Comfort” to America’s enemies?

Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson raise that question but don’t answer it in their book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. Although they interviewed 200 people, no one would go “on the record.” Their conclusion, nevertheless, is clear: Joe Biden’s “enablers” – who they label the “protective politburo” – were fully aware of his mental deterioration and conspired to run the country by committee. (We now know precisely why President Biden pardoned members of his family.) They aided and abetted America’s enemies by undermining Constitutional democracy.

After the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08, TLR joked that, rather than enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a door-stopper of a law that has had unintended and burdensome consequences, America would have been better served by hanging a culpable CEO from the horns of the Wall Street bull. A good public hanging, after all, focuses the mind…, and therefore is the most potent deterrent. Indicting a few Biden Administration wrongdoers today would similarly focus the minds of Democratic Party co-conspirators and deter future anti-Constitutional wrongdoing. (Hanging them thereafter, however, would be a bit excessive.)

Indicting a few Democratic Party “politburo” members also might focus the minds of current Republican Party enablers. As Nellie Bowles recently wrote in The Free Press, “At this point, paying your taxes directly to the Trump family is a better deal and probably safer than using the IRS. Trump wanted to slash red tape, and slash red tape he has. Now he just puts a briefcase on the table and nods. I pay my cleaning lady in cash, and that’s how I will probably pay my taxes now too.” The Wall Street Journal has a similar perspective in its description of the White House’s pay-to-play pardon and political influence machine. These and other Presidential actions raise stark Constitutional questions, including under the Emoluments Clause. It would be wise to confront them directly rather than sweep them under partisan social media rugs.

Finally (from a good friend)