Donald Trump Is An American Traitor by Robert Covington Jr.
“All roads with you lead to Putin.” -Nancy Pelosi
Historically, when the word ‘traitor’ has been used in the lexicon of American politics, the name that most prominently comes up is Benedict Arnold. The reason why his name has been synonymous with a betrayal of America, is the fact that he fought admirably on behalf of the newly formed United States of America in the Revolutionary War — only to later switch sides and fight with the British. History suggests that his motivation for engaging in such treasonous actions was feeling that he didn’t get the credit he deserved for the sacrifices and successful battles he led during the Revolutionary war.
Well, move over Benedict Arnold. There’s a new American traitor that will supplant your name as the most treasonous bad actor America has ever seen and his name is Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
Levying such a charge against the sitting president should not be thrown around lightly. That’s why it’s important to be clear about the definitions and to look at the facts. Definition: Traitor: A person who commits treason by betraying his or her country. Treason: The betrayal of one’s own country by waging war against it or by consciously or purposely acting to aid its enemies. Now let’s look at the facts and the evidence to see how it relates to Donald Trump. But before doing that, Orin Kerr, in a Washington Post piece reminds us of the expectation: Article VI of the Constitution requires Officials to take an oath “to support this Constitution.” Today, 5 U.S.C. 3331 specifies the language of the oath for federal officials. According to this statute, officials must “solemnly swear (or affirm)” that they “will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and that they “will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
When we look at the actions of Donald Trump as a candidate and president, time and time again, Trump’s actions have weakened American democracy and compromised the nation. Who could forget Donald Trump openly requesting foreign interference into our domestic elections when he infamously said: “Hey Russia, are you listening,” regarding the release of stolen emails on former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Robert Mueller report documented Trump and his campaign welcoming Russian foreign interference into our elections and then tried to obstruct the investigation as he sought to keep his blasphemous actions away from the public.
Donald Trump’s subservient behavior towards Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to be the hallmark of his treasonous actions. Trump has had private meetings and conversations and the contents of those conversations are unknown. But what is known is that during the Helsinki, Finland press conference, in front of the world — Trump sided with Putin over his own American intelligence agencies when it came to conclusions related to Russia’s attack on our democracy. That horrifying press conference should have removed all doubt that Trump is compromised by Russia in some way and is not acting in defense of, or on behalf of the United States.
Trump’s desire to remove Russian sanctions placed on them for their invasion of Crimea, along with advocating for Russia’s return to the G-7 despite the violation, repeats the pattern of assisting Putin’s geopolitical objectives. Trump has tried to undermine NATO, which only helps Russia. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner tried to establish secret communications with Russia and columnist Max Boot documented 18 ways Trump may be a compromised asset to Russia. Also, James Hohmann from the Washington Post, details the enumerable ways Trump’s decisions continue to benefit one person the most, and that is Russia and Vladimir Putin.
As an American, it’s painful to watch Putin’s smirks and smiles when he’s around Trump because it feels as though Putin knows he’s accomplished the biggest coup in American history — he’s sowed major divisions in our democracy and controls an American president.
Democratic leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff regularly describe Trump’s actions as a betrayal of the oath of office, which is the operative word in both treason and traitor definitions. Courageous whistleblowers like Daniel Ellsberg has called Trump a “domestic enemy.” Republican presidential candidate Bill Weld went on national television and stated Trump has committed treason. Republican security analysts have called Trump a national security risk. Mental health experts have repeatedly warned us that Trump is irreversibly unfit, dangerous and would do enormous damage to America and the world.
It’s seems clear that the founding fathers knew that if there ever was a president that violated the emoluments clause in the constitution, it could potentially lead to treasonous behavior. Trump’s unprecedented level of obstruction, widespread speculation of Trump’ s connection to Russian money and Trump’s blatant actions to have his businesses profit off his presidency — while doing everything in his power to hide his tax returns, shows a man that puts his personal interests above the national interest.
Everyday Trump remains in office, the more reckless and dangerous he becomes. He does not respect the rule of law or the office of the presidency. He continues to be a threat to our national sovereignty and may be exposing American secrets to the likes of Putin and Mohammed Bin Salmon of Saudi Arabia due to financial conflicts of interest. The degree of which may never be fully known.
As a nation, we can no longer ignore the facts, evidence and warnings about Donald Trump. The unthinkable has happened — there is a traitor in the White House.
Follow me on twitter: @robcovingtonjr
