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I wish I could call it Trump’s own stupidity — but given his long track record of obfuscation, deference, and complicity towards Putin — Trump’s own actions and words, are anything but.
Trump has “decided” to take Putin’s side, over America’s … so deliberately and consistently — that it can only be result of his premeditated surrender, of our long-standing national security concerns.
by Scott Horsley, Miles Parks, NPR — July 16, 2018
[...]
U.S. intelligence officials are in agreement that Russia interfered in the 2016 election using a wide array of methods, including but not limited to hacking the Democratic National Committee's emails, breaking into American voting infrastructure and launching a sprawling misinformation campaign.
But asked directly whether he believed that assessment, Trump was noncommittal.
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people. But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said. "Dan Coats [the director of national intelligence] came to me and some others, they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
[...]
"Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."
Former Watergate Investigator Jill Wine-Banks, called it Treason tonight on the All In with Chris Hayes show.
Ms Wine-Banks said something approximating this:
I looked up what the definition of Treason was, and it involves ‘giving aid and comfort to your enemies’. And that is exactly what Trump is doing, by backing the claims of Putin, over the assessments of his own Intelligence agencies. This is the text-book definition of Treason.
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Given Trump’s own words, he would rather risk another attack on our next Election; he would rather discount and disregard the best assessment of our own Intel resources — than dare risk to offend or disagree with, or directly challenge “the strong words” of former KGB-spy, Vladimir Putin.
If that doesn’t give Putin “aid and comfort” to have the American president choosing his side, over that of Trump’s own nation — I don’t know what would.
Treason
The betrayal of one's own country by waging war against it or by consciously or purposely acting to aid its enemies.
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Under Article III, Section 3, of the Constitution, any person who levies war against the United States or adheres to its enemies by giving them Aid and Comfort has committed treason within the meaning of the Constitution. The term aid and comfort refers to any act that manifests a betrayal of allegiance to the United States, such as furnishing enemies with arms, troops, transportation, shelter, or classified information. If a subversive act has any tendency to weaken the power of the United States to attack or resist its enemies, aid and comfort has been given.
— legal-dictionary