Donald Trump took an oath at his inauguration to protect the Constitution of the United States.

“Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Today, Trump met with a foreign leader who sought to undermine our Constitution and our democratic government. He did not defend the Constitution.

Chris Cillizza called today “the most shameful moment of the Trump presidency.”

He wrote, in part:

“President Donald Trump had a golden opportunity on Monday to stare down Russian President Vladimir Putin and tell him, in no uncertain terms, that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election was totally unacceptable, and that if anything like it continued going forward, there would be major and serious penalties to pay.

“Instead, standing next to Putin at the US-Russia summit in Helsinki, Trump did the opposite.

“I hold both countries responsible,” Trump said in response to a question from the American press about Russia’s interference. “I think that the United States has been foolish. We’ve all been foolish. We’re all to blame.” He went on to deride the FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the US intelligence community,
I mean, WHAT? W-H-A-T?

“Make no mistake what happened in Finland on Monday: An American President — contrary to the unanimous findings of his intelligence community and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee — sought to split blame with a foreign adversary who actively interfered in an American election to help him and hurt his opponent. And he did so while standing next to the Russian President — a man who heads a country that not only sought to sway the 2016 election through interference but also invaded and annexed Crimea and allegedly poisoned a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil.

“It was the most stunning moment yet of a presidency filled with them. (On a domestic scale, his “both sides” response to the racially motivated violence in Charlottesville was equally stunning, but Monday’s summit sets a new bar for the global implications of Trump’s actions.) Not only has Trump actively worked to realign geopolitics with his attacks on the European Union and NATO but, as of Monday, he made clear that he trusts Putin at least as much — and maybe more — than his own intelligence officials.

“Asked directly how he reconciled the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia had meddled in the election with Putin’s denials, Trump punted — saying both sides made good points and believed their view strongly. Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denials,” said Trump. What clearer evidence could you ask for that Trump sees Putin as just as credible as the AMERICAN intelligence community?

“I mean, Putin denied he meddled in the election strongly. So we have to believe him, right? RIGHT???”

Cillizza also wrote on CNN about what he called the worst tweet of Trump’s presidency:

President Donald Trump has sent a lot of bad tweets. He’s tweeted things that aren’t true. He’s tweeted personal attacks about everyone from Hillary Clinton to Mika Brzezinski and back. He’s called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man.” But a tweet he sent Monday morning — just hours before sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin — has to be the worst.

“Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!,” tweeted Trump.
Let’s be very, very clear about what Trump’s tweet suggests: That the reason the US and Russia have an adversarial relationship is because of the special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Staggering. Stunning. Surreal.

Remember that the intelligence community — unanimously! — has concluded that Russia actively interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump and hurt Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina concluded the same earlier this summer. Special counsel Robert Mueller charged a dozen Russians last week for their roles in what the charging document made clear was a broad and deep operation to influence the US presidential election.

Simply put: With the exception of a handful of Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, there is simply no one in a position to know who thinks that a) Russia didn’t meddle in the 2016 campaign and b) wasn’t trying to help Trump and hurt Clinton.

But wait, there’s more! Last week, Dan Coats, the Trump administration’s Director of National Intelligence, was blunt in his assessment of Russia’s ongoing assault on the United States’ infrastructure. “The warning signs are there,” Coats said in a speech at the Hudson Institute. “The system is blinking. It is why I believe we are at a critical point. Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.”

Andrew Tobias has a single word title for his latest post: Treason.

He wrote:

About the joint press conference he and Putin held a few hours ago, former CIA director John Brennan tweeted — as you’ve doubtless seen by now —

Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???
/strong>

Where indeed? Is Putin really the good guy here and the FBI and Mueller (and Canada) the threats to our nation’s safety?<

Really?

This is a comment by a reader, Max McConkey of Arizona:

“Treason is quite a loaded word, conjuring up Benedict Arnold, the scariest person in our 7th grade history books. My iPhone dictionary defines it as “violation of allegiance to one’s country.”

“I marched in the streets with millions of others in protest to the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, and we were called traitors by some. Our defense: we loved our country and were protesting to, as citizens, help make it better. When Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam and condemned the US, her behavior was roundly criticized as treasonous — and, frankly, it made even many of us who believed the war wrong uncomfortable. Years later Fonda apologized for having attacked her country while physically standing in Hanoi.

“So what genuinely constitutes treason? I would posit the behavior of the President of the United States today in Helsinki was clearly treasonous. It was a demonstrative “violation of allegiance” to the US on foreign soil, in the company of the president of Russia — a country that committed cyberwar against the United States. (Imagine if those cyberattacks had been physical missiles … Congress would have already declared war.) What Trump has done in the company of the enemy country’s leader is far, far worse than any statement ever made by Hollywood actress Jane Fonda.

“A federal judge should today indict the president on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors, and Air Force One should be met in Washington by law enforcement, detaining Trump for treason. Congress should immediately pass resolutions of impeachment and begin the process for trying the president. I am convinced that, if the republic survives, US history books of the future will equate Donald Trump with Benedict Arnold.”