Obama and Biden Did Not Commit Treason
The Claim
Barack Obama and Joe Biden spied on President Donald Trump, an act of treason.
News posted on
Emerging story
In a July 19, 2020 tweet, President Donald Trump demanded justice for being spied on by former President Barack Obama and his Vice President, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Trump amounted this supposed espionage to treason, stating that if their positions were reversed the guilty party would be getting “50 years.” Trump ended his tweet with the exclamatory “NEVER FORGET!!!!”
The claim was soon reposted by users on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Obama was, in fact, doing his job when his administration became suspicious of Trump’s affiliation with Russian political affairs. Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, was found to be communicating with a Russian ambassador before Trump was inaugurated. Flynn has since been fired from the Trump administration, and has pled guilty to lying to the FBI in regard to the Russia calls.
Further, Trump’s claim of treason is based of a misinterpretation of the law. According to the Office of the Law Revision Counsel United States Code, treason is specifically defined as a citizen “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.”
This is not the first time that Trump has claimed serious criminal allegations against his opponents. The Biden campaign has suggested that Trump’s accusations could be a conscious effort to distract the nation from the damage being done by the COVID-19 virus.
