Remember the Logan Act? That ancient (1799) law that has never seen a conviction bans unauthorized persons from negotiating with foreign governments over a dis0utew with the United States. But when the Deep Staters wanted to squeeze General Michael Flynn, Sally Yates resurrected it to threaten him over his perfectly proper meeting with the Russian Ambassador while President Obama was still in office as a lame duck.
Now, it appears that former Secretary of State John Kerry is in technical violation of the Logan Act, something we know thanks to a report in the Boston Globe by Matt Viser:
John Kerry’s bid to save one of his most significant accomplishments as secretary of state took him to New York on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, where, more than a year after he left office, he engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy with a top-ranking Iranian official.
He sat down at the United Nations with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss ways of preserving the pact limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It was the second time in about two months that the two had met to strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration, according to a person briefed on the meetings.
The irony is not lost on Devin Nunes:
In the terms favored by the witch hunters out to reverse the 2016 election, Kerry clearly is “colluding” with our enemies. The New York Sun editorializes, making the case that this is not the first time Kerry has colluded with our enemies:
What a duplicitous duo. The Globe says the meeting was to “strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration.” The paper uses the word “stealthy” to describe their mission to preserve the deal and says that Mr. Kerry has been “using his deep lists of contacts gleaned during his time as the top U.S. diplomat to try to apply pressure on the Trump administration from the outside.”
This has been Mr. Kerry’s modus operandi since, as a young lieutenant just out of the Navy and in the middle of a war, he began freelancing foreign policy. Back then, he snuck off to Paris and met with, among others, representatives of our active wartime enemy, the Viet Cong. Then he came back to America and plumped for their talking points. Later, he testified against American troops before the Senator Foreign Relations committee.
That’s how Mr. Kerry’s career was launched. Now he’s using the same modus operandi to treat with Mr. Zarif to save a deal that even the New York Times concedes was opposed “overwhelmingly” by the United States Congress. And that was tested in the recent election.
John Kerry with Iranians Hossein Fereydoun and Javad Zarif in Vienna (via US State Dept)
I don’t expect the Logan Act to be enforced, but it would be absolute;y delcisious to seesuch an attempt, given the bullying that General Flynn endured. Of course, thanks to his second wife’s fortune, Kerry woud not have to sell any of his multiple luxurious houses to pay the legal bills.
But I would not be surprised in the least for President Trump to call Kerry out, maybe today when he arrives in Ohio. Perhaps he will use a word beginning wit the letter “t” in describing Kerry’s actions. I mean “treachery,” because “treason” would be a much harder sell to the public and especially in court.
Remember the Logan Act? That ancient (1799) law that has never seen a conviction bans unauthorized persons from negotiating with foreign governments over a dis0utew with the United States. But when the Deep Staters wanted to squeeze General Michael Flynn, Sally Yates resurrected it to threaten him over his perfectly proper meeting with the Russian Ambassador while President Obama was still in office as a lame duck.
Now, it appears that former Secretary of State John Kerry is in technical violation of the Logan Act, something we know thanks to a report in the Boston Globe by Matt Viser:
John Kerry’s bid to save one of his most significant accomplishments as secretary of state took him to New York on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, where, more than a year after he left office, he engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy with a top-ranking Iranian official.
He sat down at the United Nations with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss ways of preserving the pact limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It was the second time in about two months that the two had met to strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration, according to a person briefed on the meetings.
The irony is not lost on Devin Nunes:
In the terms favored by the witch hunters out to reverse the 2016 election, Kerry clearly is “colluding” with our enemies. The New York Sun editorializes, making the case that this is not the first time Kerry has colluded with our enemies:
What a duplicitous duo. The Globe says the meeting was to “strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration.” The paper uses the word “stealthy” to describe their mission to preserve the deal and says that Mr. Kerry has been “using his deep lists of contacts gleaned during his time as the top U.S. diplomat to try to apply pressure on the Trump administration from the outside.”
This has been Mr. Kerry’s modus operandi since, as a young lieutenant just out of the Navy and in the middle of a war, he began freelancing foreign policy. Back then, he snuck off to Paris and met with, among others, representatives of our active wartime enemy, the Viet Cong. Then he came back to America and plumped for their talking points. Later, he testified against American troops before the Senator Foreign Relations committee.
That’s how Mr. Kerry’s career was launched. Now he’s using the same modus operandi to treat with Mr. Zarif to save a deal that even the New York Times concedes was opposed “overwhelmingly” by the United States Congress. And that was tested in the recent election.
John Kerry with Iranians Hossein Fereydoun and Javad Zarif in Vienna (via US State Dept)
I don’t expect the Logan Act to be enforced, but it would be absolute;y delcisious to seesuch an attempt, given the bullying that General Flynn endured. Of course, thanks to his second wife’s fortune, Kerry woud not have to sell any of his multiple luxurious houses to pay the legal bills.
But I would not be surprised in the least for President Trump to call Kerry out, maybe today when he arrives in Ohio. Perhaps he will use a word beginning wit the letter “t” in describing Kerry’s actions. I mean “treachery,” because “treason” would be a much harder sell to the public and especially in court.
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