Conspiring against the United States...

[Raven]

Isn't that treason?

[sarisataka]

1. No it is not

at least not as the charges read

[jberryhill]

2. No

Federal crimes are listed in 18 USC. These are all offenses "against the United States".

Participating in a conspiracy to commit a federal crime is also a crime.

So, a conspiracy to commit a federal crime is a "conspiracy against the United States."

[Wounded Bear]

3. Treason is really hard to prove...

especially in a time when we are not officially "at war" since there has been no declaration.

Yet another reason to re-address the AUMF.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

4. No

18 USC 371.

Its a common charge, carries a 5 year/250k penalty, but has a clause that limits it to a misdemeanor if the underlying crime was a misdemeanor. It generally covers people who made some attempt to defraud the US gov in some way or lied or withheld information from the government during the course of business. Very typical in money laundering cases, cases where there were questionable events or deceptive practices that occurred between the government and the suspect.