Trump's 'treason' query about op-ed was 'ludicrously stupid,' Professor Larson tells CBC

President Trump’s “TREASON?” Twitter query about an anonymous New York Times op-ed was ludicrous, Professor Carlton F.W. Larson told the CBC.

Trump sent the tweet after the Times published the op-ed by a writer the newspaper said is a top administration official. The piece blasted Trump’s decision-making as “half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless.”

It was a “ludicrously stupid” tweet, Larson told the CBC. “I can’t imagine the Justice Department – even if they found out who this person was – would indict this person for treason.”

The Constitution narrowly interprets treason, Larson told the CBC. It must involve, according to the Constitution, “levying war against” the United States, or “adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

The Associated Press also consulted Larson for a story about the Times op-ed and Trump’s tweet. A Vox story on the same topics linked to an interview with Larson about treason from 2013.

Professor Larson is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the law of treason and is the author of the forthcoming book The Trials of Allegiance: Treason, Juries, and the American Revolution (Oxford University Press).