Benedict Donald is likely in violation of the Logan Act.

From the news this morning, I found a couple of articles.

The short version: In US law is the Logan Act, which forbids unauthorized private individuals from negotiating with adversarial foreign powers that are in dispute with the U.S. It’s intended to keep individuals from undermining the U.S. government’s position. It reads as follows:

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

1 Stat. 613, January 30, 1799, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004).

So what was America’s least experienced major party presidential nominee doing when he asked Russia to sic its hackers on the emails of a high-ranking American government official? Hmmm.

From www.politico.com/…

By CAROLINE KELLY

07/28/16 01:45 PM EDT

For Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, not only do Donald “Trump's "jokes" about Russia amount to "inviting an adversary to wage cyberwar against the U.S.," but they also "appear to violate the Logan Act and might even constitute treason,” he tweeted Thursday.

Trump's "jokes" inviting an adversary to wage cyberwar against the U.S. appear to violate the Logan Act and might even constitute treason.

The latest tweet from the liberal legal giant whose name has been floated as a Supreme Court pick comes after Trump and his campaign brushed aside the backlash over his remark. The Republican nominee himself telling Fox News that he was "being sarcastic."

“Imagine what our 1st president would've said about a candidate inviting a foreign power to intrude into a US election for the 45th president,” Tribe previously tweeted Wednesday, adding that he “must have been hallucinating” at hearing Trump’s calls for Russian hackers to infiltrate Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Treason, as virtually anyone who remembers civics class in the US knows, is defined in the Constitution.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Getting a treason conviction against Benedict Donald may be a bit of a stretch. Possible, but IMHO, it’s a tough prosecution.

On the other hand, what the Donald did is a pretty clear violation of the Logan Act, since Donald directly asked an adversarial government, namely the government of Russia, to commit espionage and data theft against officials of the United States, in order to influence an election.

You know what I think?

#DonaldForPrison.