Definition of "treason"

Treaſon doth never [pro]ſper: what's the reaſon? / For yf yt [pro]ſper none dare call yt treaſon

c. 1605, John Harington, “42: Of Treason”, in Epigrams (British Library Additional MS. 12049)‎, Book III, folio 75, verso; republished at London: British Library Digitised Manuscripts, 2020 September 17

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.

1787 September 17, Alexander Hamilton et al., “Article III, Section 3”, in Constitution of the United States‎, Philadelphia: Jacob Shallus

If for every error and every act of incompetence one can substitute an act of treason, many points of fascinating interpretation are open to the paranoid imagination: treason in high places can be found at almost every turning.

1964 November, Richard J. Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”, in Robert Shnayerson, editor, Harper's Magazine, New York City: Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company