Why is everyone dancing around the word treason? We all remember at the Republican National Convention where former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn chanted ‘Lock Her Up’, referring to democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. People should now be saying, “hang him, hang him, hang him”!
Lying to the F.B.I. about Russian involvement is nothing short of treason. Lawmakers must resist imposing capital punishment before the due process has concluded, a process which is essential to our very democracy. It is puzzling to me that more people aren’t weighing in on this critical dynamic, including the media.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle are joining the growing bandwagon of those being judge and jury, relative to the zero tolerance policy. This smacks of McCarthyism because it goes against the fundamental principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. It is not sufficient to say that just because people say and accuse someone of a crime that it’s true.
Mr. Flynn is rightfully being given the right to defend himself. Now that he’s admitted to lying to the F.B.I., he is guilty of treason and deserves the maximum sentence the law can give. This same procedure should be followed for all other people involved, with maximum sentencing given to others.
Although no one other than Flynn has been implicated so far, the investigation is entering Trump’s inner circle. It is logical that a next step will likely be to re-examine Mr. Trump’s firing of former F.B.I chief James Comey because he wouldn’t fire Flynn.
Andrew Faas is a Public Voices Fellow at Yale University.