Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
Way too many.
Per the United States Constitution, Article 3, § 3: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 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.
Though what constitutes "aid and comfort" to the "enemies" of the United States, can vary on a case-by-case basis, I haven't seen anything that would indicate PFC Manning meets either of the two constitutionally-required criteria. Did he give anything to an enemy of the United States? (Assange doesn't count -- we are not at war with him.) |
I believe a good lawyer could make the case that by deliberately giving a foreign national classified documents he was in turn giving aid and comfort to our ememies. It does not state that the aid has to be directly given to our enemies. This may be splitting hairs but isn't that what lawyers do? If assets (read informants/spys/diplomats) were compromised he could be considered to have rendered aid to our enemies. If a soldier loses his/her life due to one or more of these leaked documents that would also be aid to the enemy.
I think it is a moot point though as we, with our current DOJ, don't have the guts to bring him up on treason charges. He will be found guilty of some series of lesser charges and put into prison for the rest of his life. He will become a pariah to most and a hero to the wacky few and every few years there will be an uproar and petition to release him.
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