CNN Legal Analyst Torches Trump’s Claiming Obama Committed ‘Treason’ as ‘Not Grounded in Any Reality’: ‘It’s Just Silly’
CNN legal analyst Elliott Williams dismissed President Donald Trump’s “treason” accusations against former President Barack Obama as “just silly” and assured viewers that “no one is getting charged.”
Williams, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Justice, joined CNN’s Jim Sciutto and Brianna Keilar on Tuesday shortly after Trump claimed from the White House that Obama is guilty of “treason.”
The president’s accusation is based on claims from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard released an intelligence report last week and accused Obama and other officials of a “treasonous conspiracy,” claiming a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was based on fraudulent evidence and only meant to paint Trump in a negative light.
Sciutto noted that intelligence agencies did back the accusation that Russia was behind disinformation efforts, though not directly tied to Trump. Williams argued intelligence reports are far from a stable basis to build a case.
He said:
There is not a serious case here for treason or sedition or whatever else. You know, Jim, from your long work oversees that intelligence estimates or intelligence assessments are sometimes ambiguous. There are different opinions that can be made about them, but merely disagreeing with one of the findings of one, or what’s drawn from one, is not treason, which is the act of, number one, seeking to overthrow a government, or number two, seeking to kill a sovereign of a nation. It’s just silly. Now, can it be a hassle and a pain in ass to the person who’s investigated, who’s got to hire a lawyer and go through all the motions? Sure. But this is not a an investigation would be grounded in any reality.
Williams called Trump’s use of the term “treason” an act of “public misinformation” and “bad civics” for the population.
“More than anything else, it’s bad civics for the population that just doesn’t understand these very hard legal questions,” he said.
The legal analyst argued he cannot see Obama actually being charged, as prosecutors would have a difficult time proving intent.
“You still have to get to probable cause, which is that it is more likely than not that a crime was committed. It is not more likely than not that Barack Obama committed treason,” Williams said. “You don’t have to like the president. You don’t need to have voted for him. But let’s be serious here about what the claims are. So no, no one’s getting charged here for this.”
Watch above via CNN.
