Jonathan Bernstein, Noah Feldman, Eli Lake, Ramesh Ponnuru, Cass R. Sunstein, & Francis Wilkinson, Columnists

Is Trump a Traitor? Who’s Asking?

The answer to the second question usually dictates the response to the first.

Agent and asset, or just two guys who really get along?

Photographer: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s submissive behavior toward Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference this week, and his persistent refusal to accept his own government’s conclusions about Russian meddling in U.S. elections, has pushed to the forefront a question that had been consigned to the fringes: Has the president committed treason? Several Bloomberg Opinion columnists convened online recently to address a slightly different question: What purpose is served by calling the president treasonous?

Jonathan Bernstein: It’s not a word I use. But I don’t necessarily think it’s out of bounds.