Meeting with a Russian national who promises you dirt on Hillary Clinton during a US presidential campaign?

That's "borderline treason," says Richard Painter, the former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush.

Trump Jr. has now admitted to just such a meeting, which would have landed him "in custody by now" during the Bush administration, Painter says. Tick, tick, tick...

But wait! Where have I heard this borderline treason charge before?

Oh yeah, it was nearly a full year ago, back in July of 2016, when then-candidate Donald Trump went on national TV and publicly called on the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton.

"Borderline treasonous," said the Washington Post of candidate Trump's statements at the time.

Personally, I thought Trump's July 2016 words would get him immediately booted out of the race by, if not voters, then maybe party leaders. How wrong that idea was...

But maybe "borderline" means something more consequential this year than it did last year? Or maybe the last time "borderline" led us anywhere worthwhile was 1983: