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As we reported yesterday, Donald Trump remains vulnerable to treason charges because of his actions and inactions during the Jan. 6, 2001, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. That report was based on an analysis by Jeannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard University School of Law. A finding of treason against Trump could mean he is disqualified from ever holding federal office again, and Gersen spells out several ways that could happen. In short, people who are determined to support Trump in tomorrow's election could be throwing their votes away on a candidate who will not be allowed to serve, whose name legally should not be on the ballot.
Since Gersen published her article in 2021, several other legal experts have examined the issue of Trump and treason -- and reached similarly grim conclusions regarding the former president and Republican candidate in tomorrow's 2024 election. In these instances, experts are not focusing on Jan. 6, but rather Trump's statements regarding NATO and U.S. allies. Over the next two days we will be publishing scholarly articles about the latest on Trump and treason. We start our series, "Trump, Treason, and NATO," now with a piece based on the work of Laurence Tribe, a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.
A summary of Tribe's work is carried at Raw Story under the headline:
Donald Trump's remarks that he would not only violate the United States' treaty with NATO by refusing to defend member countries if they were attacked by Russia and had not spent enough on defense, but that he would encourage President Vladimir Putin "to do whatever the hell" he wants in that situation, have sparked fears and warnings in the U.S. and in NATO countries. But one top constitutional scholar is issuing a different kind of warning: treason.
Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina, home to his top Republican rival and his own former UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, Trump on Saturday relayed this anecdote to supporters: "One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, 'Well, sir, if we don't pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?' I said, 'You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?' He said, 'Yes, let’s say that happened.' 'No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'"
Donald Trump's remarks that he would not only violate the United States' treaty with NATO by refusing to defend member countries if they were attacked by Russia and had not spent enough on defense, but that he would encourage President Vladimir Putin "to do whatever the hell" he wants in that situation, have sparked fears and warnings in the U.S. and in NATO countries. But one top constitutional scholar is issuing a different kind of warning: treason.
Laurence Tribe, the well-known constitutional scholar, is University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, co-founder of the American Constitution Society, and author of American Constitutional Law.
Tribe wrote: "This is an announcement by Mr. Trump of intent to commit what Article III defines as 'treason' by giving 'aid and comfort' to an 'enemy,' which Russia would become under Article V of the NATO Treaty by attacking one of our NATO allies."
He was responding to a scathing piece on Trump's remarks in The Atlantic by Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor. and an expert on Russia, nuclear weapons, and national security affairs, and specifically, via X, on this passage: "The leader of one of America’s two major political parties has just signaled to the Kremlin that if elected, he would not only refuse to defend Europe, but he would gladly support Vladimir Putin."
In The Atlantic, Nichols added, "Here in the United States, we have become accustomed to treating Trump like an angry child, ignoring his outbursts the way parents ignore a toddler who shouts threats and claims to hate mommy and daddy during tantrums."
"But other nations do not see an overaged juvenile; they see a man who once held the keys to the U.S. nuclear arsenal and could once again become the commander in chief of the American military. They are watching him because they believe—as they should—that he is telling them exactly what he’ll do if he returns to office."
Trump's remarks drew the ire of NATO itself.
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,' NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement," The Associated Press reported.
Watch Trump's remarks below or at this link.
Trump: One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, Well, sir, if we don't pay and were attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said.. No I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. pic.twitter.com/2RPVDFZIXy
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2024
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