Dismissing Russian Cyber Attack: Is Trump Guilty Of Treason? (VIDEO)

Donald Trump does not seem to be capable of either recognizing or reacting to facts. He does not appear to experience the same reality that the rest of the world enjoys.

Trump’s inability to accept the truth may be setting him up for a charge of treason, according to an op-ed in the Boston Globe.

John Shattuck is a professor of diplomacy at the famed Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

In other words, he knows of what he speaks.

Shattuck wrote in today’s Boston Globe that Trump’s inability to accept the fact that the Russian government carried out a cyber attack on the American election may very well be setting him up for a charge of treason.

Shattuck points out that 17 separate U.S. Intelligence agencies have said that there is irrefutable evidence of Russia’s cyber attack on our election process. Further, they have said that the attack was intended to promote Donald Trump as the candidate of choice.

Virtually everyone in the U.S. government understands and admits that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, ordered and oversaw the hacking of the Democratic Party and ordered the release of that information. They all agree that the hacking was done to support Donald Trump for President.

Donald Trump, however, continues to absolutely deny that reality.

Shattuck points out that at this point in time, Trump really should be embracing the idea of a full investigation into exactly what happened here. He should, by rights, be demanding some answers. His main goal should be the safety and security of the American system of government.

Instead, he continues to deny and denigrate the statements by our most important security forces.

Shattuck writes that there could be several, not mutually exclusive, reasons for Trump’s position.

He could be trying to bolster his standing and his legitimacy before the Electoral College votes. He could be trying, very deliberately, to undermine the authority of the intelligence community, so that he can have a stronger influence over them. Or, says, Shattuck, Trump might be trying to simply go over the heads of the “Washington insiders” in the intelligence departments, which would let him persuade the public that he has the true information about the country’s security threats. This, again, would be a blatant attempt to secure more power than the office really holds.

And finally, Shattuck wrote, Donald Trump could be simply trying to cover up involvement by his staff or himself in the cyber attack. Huh.

Then Shattuck wrote this:

“In each case the president-elect is inviting an interpretation that his behavior is treasonous.”

He wrote that by denying the reality of the cyber attack, Trump is “giving aid or comfort” to a foreign enemy.

While so far there’s no evidence that Trump or his people were complicit in the hacking, we know that Trump and his nominees to the Cabinet are close business partners with Russia.

Paul Manafort, General Flynn, and Donald Trump, Jr. are all closely tied to the Russian business world. All are key members of Trump’s emerging cabinet.

So what do we make of this?

John Shattuck leads us to the conclusion that Donald Trump may very well be facing charges of treason sooner rather than later.

Watch this, and see how unbalanced the President-elect really is.

Featured image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr. Available through CC By 2.0.

 

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"