this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
569 points (99.0% liked)

World News

38890 readers
2331 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is now central to Donald Trump’s election campaign, has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a report in the US.

The Wall Street Journal, citing several in-post and former US, European and Russian officials, reported that the conversations between the two men ranged from the personal to the geopolitical and included a request from the Russian leader not to activate his Starlink ​​satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favour to the Chinese leader and Putin ally, Xi Jinping.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 186 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (5 children)

Isn't this espionage/treason? He has security clearance, he should not have contact with foreign government officials or sabotage our allies.

[–] kungen@feddit.nu 12 points 7 hours ago

Or at the least, a violation of the Logan Act.

[–] AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 12 points 8 hours ago

Also a potential breach of ITAR.

[–] thejml@lemm.ee 99 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Absolutely, but he’s rich so it’s okay.

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 29 points 11 hours ago

Rich and a Republican

[–] subignition@fedia.io 54 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Death penalty for treason would be a fitting end to Musk's story, I think. It doesn't look like anyone has gotten a death sentence under federal treason laws since the Civil War, though.

The terms used in the definition derive from English legal tradition, specifically the Treason Act 1351. Levying war means the assembly of armed people to overthrow the government or to resist its laws. Enemies are subjects of a foreign government that is in open hostility with the United States.[6] Treason does not distinguish between participants and accessories; all persons who rebel or intentionally give aid to hostilities are subject to the same charge. source

Russia might not meet the bar for "open hostility", I'm not sure how that is defined. This layman sure as hell thinks Trump and the January 6 mob fall into the definition of 'levying war' though. And interestingly a conviction of treason also forfeits your right to hold public office, even if your punishment is prison instead of death