Tag Archives: Legal definition of treason

Some call it treason; I call it treason






Treason Law and Legal Definition

A person commits the crime of treason if he levies war against his state or country or sides to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Treason is a crime under federal and some state laws. Treason is made a high crime, punishable by death, under federal law by Article III, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.


Under this article of the Constitution, 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 requires overt acts such as giving sensitive government security secrets to other countries, even if such countries are not enemies. Treason can include spying on behalf of a foreign power or divulging military secrets.






Article Three Section  3 (treason section) of the United States Constitution

Section. 3.



Attainder of Treason

In English criminal lawattainder or attinctura was the metaphorical “stain” or “corruption of blood” which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one’s life, property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one’s heirs. Both men and women condemned of capital crimes could be attainted.

Attainder by confession resulted from a guilty plea at the bar before judges or before the coroner in sanctuaryAttainder by verdict resulted from conviction by juryAttainder by process resulted from a legislative act outlawing a fugitive. The last form is obsolete in England (and prohibited in the United States), and the other forms have been abolished.




CNN July 16: Following President Trump’s joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, former CIA Director John Brennan tweeted that Trump’s comments were “nothing short of treasonous.” CNN panelists discuss.



‘Nothing short of treason’: US voters on the Trump-Putin summit



PLYMOUTH, Minn. – If President Trump needs tips for dealing with Vladimir Putin, there’s a real estate agent in Plymouth who may have some insight.

Mark Stipakov knows the Russian president from his earliest days, as an elementary school kid at School 193 in Leningrad. They spent five years together as classmates in the Soviet Union, before Stipakov switched schools at the end of sixth grade.




David Hickton, former U.S. attorney who pioneered the tactic of indicting state actors for hacking, talks with Rachel Maddow about the value of indicting nation-state adversaries even if the chances for extradition are low. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc






Thus, the operative legal standard to apply to an impeachment of a sitting President is “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” There is substantial difference of opinion over the interpretation of these words.


Congressional Interpretation




An Indictable Crime


There are other places in the Constitution which seem to support this interpretation, as well. For example, Article III § 2 (3)provides that “the trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury.” Clearly the implication of this sentence from the Constitution is that impeachment is being treated as a criminal offense, ergo, impeachment requires a criminal offense to have been committed.

Article II § 2 (1) authorizes the President to grant pardons “for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” This sentence implies that the Framers must have thought impeachment, and the acts which would support impeachment, to be criminal in nature.




The third approach is that an indictable crime is not required to impeach and remove a President. The proponents of this view focus on the word “misdemeanor” which did not have a specific criminal connotation to it at the time the Constitution was ratified. This interpretation is somewhat belied by details of the debate the Framers had in arriving at the specific language to be used for the impeachment standard.

Initially the standard was to be “malpractice or neglect of duty.” This was removed and replaced with “treasonbribery, or corruption.” The word “corruption” was then eliminated. On the floor during debate the suggestion was made to add the term “maladministration.” This was rejected as being too vague and the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” was adopted in its place. There are many legal scholars who believe this lesser standard is the correct one, however.

Relating to the President’s Official Duties

The fourth view is that an indictable crime is not required, but that the impeachable act or acts done by the President must in some way relate to his official duties. The bad act may or may not be a crime but it would be more serious than simply “maladministration.” This view is buttressed in part by an analysis of the entire phrase “high crimes or misdemeanors” which seems to be a term of art speaking to a political connection for the bad act or acts. In order to impeach it would not be necessary for the act to be a crime, but not all crimes would be impeachable offenses.


A Saturdsy Night Massacre review

Some hold the opinion that Congress could pass laws by declaring what constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors” which would, in effect, be a list of impeachable offenses. That has never happened. (Query: If Congress passed such a code of impeachable offenses, could that be applied retroactively, much as a definition, to a sitting President? Would such an application be viewed as an ex post facto law? Also, would such a statue be an attempt to amend the Constitution, without following the amendment procedure?)

How Congress Sets the Rules for Impeachment



Impeachment Trials



“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments…”


However, if there is an impeachment standard (and there can be no doubt that there is as the Constitution specifically establishes one — “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors”), then it is only logical that it is possible for that standard not to be correctly followed. If such is the case, who is responsible for saying that the standard was not correctly followed? There can only be one answer — the courts. As there has never been a successful impeachment and removal of a sitting President, there is no authority “on all fours” for the proposition either way. However, there is authority which would shed some light on this complicated question.

The Role of the U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States has decided that it should not review judicial impeachments, using the “political question” doctrine to sidestep the issue. Walter Nixon v. United States506 U.S. 224 (1993). In the Walter Nixon case, Judge Nixon attacked the rule of the Senate allowing a subcommittee to hear evidence, rather than the Senate as a whole, in his judicial impeachment. The opinion of the Supreme Court declined to review Judge Nixon’s case, and in dicta is not binding on future Courts.





This article was written by Ronald Arthur Lowry.



What’s Past is prologue

I.A.House Judiciary Committee vote to impeach President Richard Nixon

IE Background


IE. Hearings begin