President Donald Trump swore to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, a document that declares, “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”

Only.

On Sunday, Trump attacked Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat, claiming that Schiff falsely represented the president’s words to Congress. “His lies were made in perhaps the most blatant and sinister manner ever seen in the great Chamber,” Trump alleged. “He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States.”

Trump added, “I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason.” But even if Schiff had lied about Trump’s words in “the most blatant and sinister manner,” that would not be treason any more than it was treason when Trump lied about the birthplace of his predecessor, President Barack Obama, falsely implying that he was a foreign usurper holding his office illegitimately.

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Trump’s statement does not merely represent a failure to protect and defend the Constitution. He said he wants someone at “the highest level” to do something that violates the Constitution––specifically, treating as “Treason” something other than levying war against America or aiding its enemies.