I have spent covering the governors office. Politics especially arizona politics when you that no me personally is history you have seen wall after wall several stacks of shells of history books that i was very fortunate i got that opportunity last year and also to changing hands bookstore thanks for giving me this opportunity to talk tonight also see. Org if that is here recording this border booktv. [applause] if they could not make it would you feel compelled to watch us again this will be on hopefully very soon and the original title of this book to explain the concept of the book. Another thing that helps to explain is the recently ended president ial election was very contentious of my lifetime and treason was of word that of a daily basis you heard from around like the Major Party Candidates would not blame you if you did not notice it was a lowkey affair that he remembered for civility but they were playing around just the best bet would people say troezen what do they really mean corrected this defined in the constitution and to provide aid or comfort to the enemy the only crime defined in the with constitution and the framers had a very specific reason for doing that under british rule in treason applied to a great many offenses to be used against people who would speak out or oppose the government or the king there was a Supreme Court justice who noticed under british rule treason was not only raising a hand against the king but thinking murderous thoughts. We thought that at the Constitutional Convention mentioned an english man who wished death upon in old an unknown man in did turn out to be the king. Even though he had no way to know who that was he was convicted of treason. So the framers were very familiar with treason lot to be abused. So congress could not change it at its whim but does not stop the people from using that over and over again profile most of the time you hear that but what people mean is not did they want war against United States but to be trade the countrys. But that which inspired this book with this idea to base on this incident you may remember 2015 last year president obama was trying to negotiated deal with a Nuclear Program and republicans were not happy to go cent of eager to iran to say any deal that they would reach would need Senate Ratification and if they did not get that would be to the next president. Which seems like a likely outcome at this point. Democrats accuse senator cotton called the logan act and went so far to the key is the law of treason for gulf might be familiar from the up president ial Election Office donald trump one man at comment about violation of the of logan act but the incident was senator cotton is a launching point not only because of the logan act the law that he was accused of breaking when and as much as above to get into each and every one of them we would be here until midnight. And i will start with the logan act. And denied his days in france from the brink of war. Define did from sending goods to the vietnamese for a anwr seems pretty imminent of that in the Democratic Republican Party was very pro french and antiwar there wasnt a lot they could do about it. And then to say maybe they could do something . He was a philadelphia dr. As a democratic republic and a friend of jefferson and a quaker and fought did he could just get to fourth after he with his leader afraid he could talk the comeback from the edges to keep the country out of four. More so logan was a pretty prominent person but certainly nobody of the stature that is needed to negotiate with the foreign country like taking out a second mortgage to go to iran to negotiate better. So basically what he did and actually was able with the leader of the of french directory. And with that wisdom of walking things back of thistles it is, a debt impossible to determine whether the impact. And to see a lot of impact dates. And then to be a celebrity in paris you would think they would receive similar treatment to go out with his own initiative to make peace that was not the case. The federalist were outraged. With excusable interference in somebody they would view of many of them with at mob rule of that french revolution. So they want to do is a free and that ended up being the l. Logan act within introduced in congress and to correspond directly or indirectly with a foreign power over any controversy this has turned out as if to be anything from congress. Into hundred 25 years since it was passed, medicine goal president has been convicted and even one person has only been charged with that. And in 18 03 and on the eastern seaboard and with be absence of any real estate mogul to write an article under a pseudonym under the local newspaper. And with different story to the west. To say this was in direct correspondence to guide him under the logan act. And never went to trial. So while it has the penalty of 5,000 and three years in prison to become a historical footnote. The only thing it has ever been good for with donald trump facing an accusation making a similar accusation from nancy pelosi and to make those accusations from Jesse Jackson and speaker of that house with the nicaraguan civil war. They thought about filing charges and they might even accuse ross perot from after the war ended. So as we see from george logan having good intentions is very much an accusation they denounced him on the senate floor from. And actually the only person the found his way into my book for trying to keep peace. The other was nicholas trip he did not to pay it betrayed his country but his president and actually is no question. And with a complete lee another matter. So by that point so to conquer the territory so extremely generous terms of the United States into negotiate peace deal with a set of terms and those Rio Grande River in texas and then there is a few other confessions that he wanted that were particularly important that he could paid that of Mexican Government debt now tripp seem like a very big choice. And second in command to the state department. With the very strong supporter of the war. He was appalled by what he saw. Heed to have the abuse of power and having serious misgivings now at this time mexico was losing the war badly. In even though they were losing by leaving got to the point in he was getting desperate to go to the negotiating table and scott was on the outskirts and didnt want to stop this from happening to get to the bargaining table so president pope would have been comfortable with but he offered a neutral zone and nothing ever came of it. But were eventually comeback to washington in secretary buchanan heard about this. And quickly concluded immediately called him back to the United States so by the time this happened peace had improved a little bit the faction over Mexicos Congress was ready to hash out a deal but they did not want to lose the golden opportunity he was very worried about what would happen in mexico at the time people in washington had a grand design but he wanted to stop this from happening so tripp made a Bold Decision to decide he would disobey his president in order to return to washington to bring an end to what he thought was a horrible war. So with a fair and just treaty to stop the country to be further dismembered he knows it would have to be accepted by paul can the senate would have to ratify it. The results that was accepted by the president and ratified by the senate where we set now with this treaty. The pope was furious with the treaty was good it was too good of a deal to pass up a defense everything he wanted basically but despite how angry he was with his envoy he accepted incentive to to the senate and it was ratified. Now at the time people live washington wanted to go further like the pope allies in congress and his cabinet say you can get a lot more out of the war some people wanted to extend our border several hundred miles south of where it is today in someone to go further than it was now. Someone to annex the entire country but the whig party with the war effort hedges taken over the house of representatives with a oneterm illinois congressman may have heard of him named l. Flynn negative Abraham Lincoln. Want and even some of those allies in the Democratic Party it was not added any sense of altruism but that many non new nonwhite citizens and United States but what we cannot save for sher is to disobey his president we did not go down the road. Know several of the chapters in my book follow a common theme with the impression of freespeech. And liberty. So of the debate today are accused of treason so sometimes face oppression from the government. And then you see that from the earliest days of the country the first time we saw that was 1798 with the alien and sedition act and to crack down on the democratic republican senate. I have a chapter of that. We saw this again in the civil war when Abraham Lincoln would crack down on the states and i explore that if with a former ohio congressmen with the copperhead faction of the democrats see actually exiled him to the confederacy and we saw that again enrolled or to with the first socialist ever elected to congress of the major newspaper publisher. But of course, no discussion of free speech and First Amendment rights. And of which tens of joseph mccarthy. And to start researching it 1 2 to conclude into being trained in the national consciousness. And with of mccarthy witch hunt to focus on for some reason and that incident was topranking members and this mitt backed was passed in 1940 making it illegal to advocate the moseley was used during the nazis for world war ii. But things changed a lot. And harry truman was under tremendous pressure and then the only question is which law would use. And then to settle on the smith act. Truman could not find a less sympathetic view for the erroneous belief to be unfairly targeted in the of the communist party. And what the defendants was a leader of the communist party usa. And would go into hiding with the soviet union twice and then of the rasher in government russian government retaken back to america so not extremely sympathetic group and perhaps panic that is why with others remember so well. And then to have no actual evidence to overthrow the american government. Said the entire case rested on the violent overthrow the government. And even in that case was pretty flimsy. With the bizarre and legal strategy with propaganda and violated in the smith act. Did that was not a close call. Even if they had not then applying at the time they would get around to a. That is the most convenient time for them to go into action considering everything going on. So these 11 men constituted a clear and present danger to america. There are all need to justices that there is no way with the peoples passions were then as he put it in commerce to come back and restore the Civil Liberties it did not come for a while it was over six years. And then very much came true. And that this was the allout assault from a car menaced party . From 1957 to survey the landscape to realize theyve made a mistake and they struck down the unconstitutional provision of the smith back to. Of those intervening six years those across the country not including the original defendant was a provision of the smith act. Ninetythree were convicted some even stayed in prison one was even there in 1962 when kennedy commuted his sentence. But the smith act is still on of books today. Not enforced 60 years but keep that in mind if you are planning to violently overthrow the american government. [laughter] if you havent got a copy of my book get you can buy one here. If you want to learn more about my book and after words i will be signing autographs and i will open the floor for q a if you have any questions of the book in general. That is the focus of my Second Chapter the land sedition act focusing on his grandson and they use that very vigorously and he was dead by the time it went into effect and yellow fever got him before the Adams Administration did. And one of those more Current Events so what do you think about the Edward Snowden situation as a historical example . Badges the perfect embodiment of the of modernday epilogue. And many more books will be written but the did say perfect example of you hear the word treason a lot of people call him a hero and then to sort that out. And has the word troezen changed treason change quick. We use that little less frequently. We have seen one case in the past six years we had won in 2006 with a guy doing propaganda videos for all kinda allocate data al qaeda now is something just to say on cable news but i know it when i see it rather than what we see set out in the constitution. But when the treaty was passed . Nothing good happened to him. [laughter] and lake george logan nobody sought Nicholas Tripp from the merging but this job was not waiting for him when he got back. That was bad for him because he was in the employ of the state department over 20 years so that was very tough for him and his family to make ends meet and when lincoln took office he forged an alliance with mexico and petitioned Abraham Lincoln to give him a job but he was not so keen on the idea so not until the late 1860s Congress Even paid him for the expenses he incurred while he was in mexico and of back pay that he was owed. Finally 1871 somebody convinced the granted industry shin to throw him a bone to give him a job and he finished the last years of his life as the postmaster. [laughter] have reduced decide who to include in the book . I am sure there are a plethora of choices. Basically part of fascists freespeech and civil liberty would find one good example for each. With the alien and sedition act and the espionage act and then the smith act trial. The logan act was a given and inspiration behind the book but fortunately with my large background of historical knowledge it set me a while i was crossing things off and adding new things after a foul those fascinating incidents. What about using the logan act against nixon and kissinger . Not kissinger but there was briefly some talk of using it against nixon. Very brief. There is another chapter in my book from 1968 that nixon was worried johnson would start to talking about peace in vietnam to help home free win the election. He was conspiring to reject any peace overtures from johnson. Johnson found out about this he actually did use the word treason to describe this talking to was senator on the phone who was an ally of nixon you do learn that he snorts a lot when he talks. [laughter] but lbj did consider using the logan act but they did not have fully the evidence they needed to go public at that point in he decided it would be bad for the country with a new president coming in over his head so they kept it to themselves. Maybe the americans knew what they were getting into had that come out. Joseph mccarthy era then named roy cohn comes to mind did you write about him . Because it turns out he was a big time mentor to the president elect. I believe he wishes mentioned only in passing in the chapter talking about the mccarthy era have you no sense of decency, sir . He is only mentioned in passing. Did you ever looked into the assertion that bill gates met with iranian agents for thou hostages until after the election . That was one of the ones under consideration to make the list because that is very fascinating look and act situation but is still a little bit murky a lot of people who believe that did not happen but if you dont know the current leader became the cia director and was the Campaign Manager this was going on during the iran hostage crisis and was trying to negotiate the hostages so they just wanted to get these people allowed to back home before he left office. He may have played a role to not have that happening to have them hold off because then that would make carter look great just before the big election. Coincidentally they chose to wait to release within one half hour of the of reagan inauguration not to give carter the satisfaction. But certainly there were accusations. The constitution defines treason the following chapter has weird language about the punishments which i read right before i came about corruption what about those committing treason . At no about punishment but execution is the alternate. Doesnt have to be the Death Penalty but there really is no limit to how far the government can go is of high bar to said to have to admit it in open court or have to separate witnesses. I think we have seen 30 cases the somebody even charged with treason in the country. Come a people have then executed total . I am not sure. Maybe about 30 have been charged in total and 225 years of the countrys history, dont quote me but i think maybe around 18 have been convicted of what have been executed some have spelled life in prison last person convicted was 1952 was an american of japanese descent who spent time in pearl harbor and work for Japanese Company that used american pows as slave labor so he was mistreated american prisoners and sentenced to death by president eisenhower commuted his sentence to life in prison. American citizens typically are jailed like the rosenbergs, theyre not generally charged with treason what are they charge with . To make very often like the rosenbergs especially like thing that was the espionage act i think they were Edward Snowden is another example under the espionage act. I am not sure of the other statute there are so many other laws governing to take up arms against your country and stealing secrets. Passing on National Security secrets with the wall range of other laws. Pdf. What about Daniel Goldberg . I did not get into him little bit not a whole chapter but mostly about the Chicago Tribune three days before the attack on pearl harbor it was very isolationist trying to push the United States into war they got a hold the very top secret war plans of germany to put them across the frontpage there was a lot of talk to press charges against the paper and the publisher. That fell by a the wayside as they had bigger things to deal with the to the last part of that chapter the last third covers the pentagon papers as well and press leaks. The one soldier that was walking off the post in afghanistan. Lot of people wanted him charge with treason to aid and abet the enemy he claimed he would over there to help them but do you hear any stories in wartime where soldiers were executed without trial for suspicion of treason as saks . Bennett that is something i did not look into although i am sure it happened lot. In more time on the battlefield some of those ranks of the military those Commanding Officers have a lot of latitude for issues like that. There could be. Give trees and is not used because theyre so many other laws that easier to use because trajan treasonous and nearly defined. I think that his of big part of it so if you have to witnesses to the overt act unless the defendant admits it is an open car an open court that isnt likely. At least potentially could have brought charges to think of john walker lint back in the news around 9 11 that was confiding with al qaeda and afghanistan captured by u. S. Forces. He was not charged with treason. I forget what he was but george to be a bush at the time was asked in he said he wrote off the possibility and said it is a kid who was misled. I dont want to do that. Twenty years. Life imprison no Death Penalty. It could be worse. Thinking that treason had to be treated as surgeon way meaning that all of the other laws that create that analogy cannot given the same love all of scrutiny and are inconsistent with what the framers intended in the first place. That is a very good point and the obvious work around the Congress Found over and over that sometimes can carry the same penalty even some of the framers of the constitution found their own work around very early on with the sedition act with the concept of judicial review probably would have been struck down as unconstitutional but the espionage and sedition act of world war i was upheld. A lot of these. Politicians are creative and they have no shortage of ways to get around the narrow definition. Above to sign some books. [applause] [inaudible conversations] met with the announcement came they would be arrested on seconddegree murder charges, although we felt the charges should have spent firstdegree, the arrest was made and we were at the place where we were hopeful. But that was just the rest. That was just one part of the process. Of course, people looking for a conviction. Hedy issue but on the other foot if he was 20 years old to kill a 17 yearold white young man we know that there would have been and arrest without going through all of these loopholes and there would have been an arrest that night the kid would have went to the morgue and he would have went to prison. We know that for sure. That is how the Justice System works. When it comes to minorities then give the benefit of the doubt to the killer who is a victim when it comes to the others killing minorities