Why not treason? Any lawyers know?
> Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
The last time we convicted someone for it was in 1949.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_laws_in_the_United_Sta...
> 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.
You are right, of course, but it's not relevant to policy decisions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/texas-judge-trump-alie...
> He also found that the “plain ordinary meaning” of the act’s language, like “invasion” and “predatory incursion,” referred to an attack by “military forces” and did not line up with Mr. Trump’s claims about the activities of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang, in a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
The same reason almost no one is ever charged with treason, given the plethora of other criminal charges available to anything that might remotely be similar to treason: Article III, Section 3 of the US 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.”
Even where the first part (in which, it should be noted, the terms involved are interpreted very narrowly) is not problematic, the “two witnesses" rule, which is applied independently to each fact necessary to sustain the conviction, is usually quite difficult to overcome, so its usually vastly easier to get a conviction for something else.
But this is not that. This is blatant treason.
We didn't even charge Soviet spies with treason. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hanssen
The Korean war was never formally resolved, but the US hasn't declared war since WWII.
There's also no indication of adherence here.
Doing things that benefit a country and a leader that your government officically doesn't care for can be all shades of prohibited and illegal, but it's not treason.
These days, some vague tattoos will do it.
Wonder what those companies are, any guesses?
https://www.justice.gov/archives/usao-dc/media/1352191/dl
> JOHN DOE 1, alias 한지호 Jiho HAN (HAN), was an individual residing overseas who opened accounts with a foreign money service transmitter (“MST”) that conducts U.S. dollar transactions through a branch in New York (hereinafter “MST-1”). HAN would then forward the funds to an individual in the People’s Republic of China (“China”). HAN also received funds from CHAPMAN for an overseas IT worker that CHAPMAN first deposited into one of her U.S. financial accounts.
> JOHN DOE 2, alias 浩然 徐 Haoran XU (XU), was an individual residing overseas who registered for financial accounts with U.S. MSTs. XU provided his name, date of birth, and a Chinese National ID to U.S. MSTs to register for these accounts.
> JOHN DOE 3, alias 春姬 金 Chunji JIN (JIN), was an individual residing overseas who registered for financial accounts with U.S. MSTs. JIN provided her name, date of birth, and a Chinese National ID to U.S. MSTs to register for these accounts
Aha so it's not just NK, China is involved as well. I would guess the Chinese govt is quite happy to look the other way here.
> On or about November 15, 2022, CHAPMAN messaged with an overseas IT worker using the screenname “Alexander The Great” (“AT”), wherein AT asked 21 CHAPMAN for assistance creating a background story for a stolen U.S. person identity, “Daniel B.” AT noted that the real Daniel B. had a criminal record and employers were asking for more information as to what offenses were committed. CHAPMAN provided a cover story and asked “What information do you know about Daniel B[.]?? Do you know his race?” AT responded that the real Daniel B. was “a black man” but that he (AT) was Asian. AT then gave CHAPMAN his “real full name,” which was a Chinese name
"Alexander the Great" - one can image a poor child, wanted to be a history major, but through an ugly twist of fate, they ended up as a hacker stealing identities and having to solve leet code puzzles with ChatGPT /s
Also mostly a 2024 story.
Related / connected Nashville case from last year:
US dismantles laptop farm used by undercover North Korean IT workers
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41356483
Also:
We found North Korean engineers in our application pile
Though not commonly used; though it does pop-up from time-to-time[2]
[1] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Norks
[2] https://www.nationalreview.com/the-feed/korean-war-ii-watch-...
Maybe some of them are just trying to make a living?
Maybe a lot of them are economically disadvantageous because, like with Cuba, the US has been f_cking with them non-stop for the last 75 years?
Maybe instead of assuming that every person inside a geographic area agrees to all the exact same things, we should normalize relations with North Korea?
The Cold War, like all other wars, is an idiot's errand, which has contributed to the entrenched hostilities that continue to dominate international relations.
Maybe world leaders should try "adulting"?
Since pretending to be a grown-up seems to be as close as anyone gets anymore...
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