U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is the latest politician to toss around the word “treason.”

She said on ABC News’ “This Week” that those who are going after Donald Trump are seeking what amounts to a coup against the duly elected president and, therefore, might be guilty of a treasonous act.

Hold . . . the . . . phone, Ms. Cheney!

For that matter, the same admonition goes out to those who are tossing the accusation at Donald Trump and his allies, too.

I hate the word “treason,” especially when it’s being used for immediate-term political gain.

My handy-dandy American Heritage dictionary defines “treason” as “the betrayal of one’s country.” The maximum penalty for treason is death. Yes, men and women have died for committing acts of treason. They’ve been caught spying for enemy states, or for joining the other side in a time of war.

Liz Cheney’s use of the word “treason” is quite troubling. She told ABC News: “We had people that are at the highest levels of our law enforcement . . . saying that they were going to stop a duly elected president of the United States.”

“That sounds an awful lot like a coup and it could well be treason.”

C’mon, congresswoman. Settle down. These folks at the “highest levels of our law enforcement” are seeking answers to troubling questions. It is not treasonous to search for them, even if it puts the president into some political jeopardy.

I just am weary of hearing the term being tossed around the way we toss around verbiage of much less dire significance.

The only way to assert anything of the sort is for there to be a full-blown investigation into specific charges of such activity. Absent any of that, all we have is political posturing.

“Treason” is the quintessential condemnation that mustn’t be used as political bait.