The #TreasonSummit went as expected.

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If you are still a trump supporter after that disgraceful performance in Finland today, I need to know why you have not been forcefully committed to an insane asylum. Folks in your own gang can't endorse his behavior today.

trump embarrassed his country, his family, his party, and himself....(I take that back, he has no shame, so he can't embarrass himself) today, and you have to wonder when it will all end. He stood next to a murderous dictator and trashed his own intelligence community and blamed his country as much as Russia for the attempts to undermine American democracy. (Good people on both sides.) I am now convinced that Putin and the Russians have some very damaging information on trump. Stunningly, when asked about it in the presser today, Putin did not deny it. With trump standing by his side, and Mrs. trump sitting across from him, Putin smiled and deflected the question. You just know that trump's heart was pounding in that moment, but Putin did not let him down and give up the goods. Not totally. He still needs him as his agent. 

I gotta tell you, I was never big on all this I word talk, but now, after today, I don't know.

"With #TreasonSummit now trending on Twitter, it’s probably a good time to revisit that whole “high crimes and misdemeanors” thing.

The calls for impeachment are coming from far and wide — even from some who are experts in fighting against treasonous  empires.

At this point, after seeing our president openly discredit American intelligence agencies in favor of sucking up to Vladimir Putin, impeachment as a consequence seems unfitting only in its disproportionate mildness. But since involuntary commitment seems to be off the table as a more immediate solution right now, we should talk about our options.

Under Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, a President can be impeached upon the “Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The House brings those formal charges against the president, and then the whole circus moves over to the Senate, which acts as the trier of fact. The Senate then hears evidence and makes the decision whether to convict and remove from office (by a two-thirds majority).

Fun as it would be to use treason as the vehicle to rid ourselves of the Donald, it probably won’t work. The treason statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2381, reads as follows:

“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

Trump’s post-Putin presser was an absolute disgrace, but it probably doesn’t clearly rise to the level of levying war against the U.S. That’s fine, though. We’ve still got “high crimes and misdemeanors” and those will do just fine, as long as Congress can find their backbones.

The battle between the #MAGA army and those seeking to oust Trump tends to come in the form of “that behavior is bad, but it’s not an impeachable offense,” versus the Maxine Waters view that”impeachment is about whatever the Congress says it is.” Let’s elaborate a bit on what the Constitution actually meant by “high crimes and misdemeanors.”...

.......Since the 2016 election, the potential for Trump’s impeachment has come up many times, in response to Trump’s suppression of the press, his comments in Charlottesville, and his general, everyday, dismantling of our government and all that we hold dear as Americans. What we saw today, though, is next-level in terms of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”  The House already had the authority to begin impeachment proceedings; now, though, with Trump’s cozying up to Russia for all to see, it has no sound basis for dragging its feet any longer.

Whether our elected representatives will act, though, is far from certain.  As Bradley Moss put it:

“In truth, however, no one truly knows for certain what would happen in that context. The Clinton and Johnson impeachment proceedings were far more conventional in that regard. Furthermore, the threshold to successfully impeach and convict a sitting President is so high specifically to minimize frivolous charges. For President Trump to actually be removed from office, it would require significant desertions by members of his own party in the Senate.”

Those of us on impeachment watch will be hanging our hats on just those “significant desertions.” [Source]

trump is certainly giving the I word folks a lot to hang their hats on of late. 

*Pic from abcnews.go.com