President Trump questioned Monday whether former Secretary of State John Kerry has broken federal law by secretly meeting with an Iranian official to help salvage the Iran nuclear deal.
In a tweet, Trump said Iran had received “VERY BAD advice” from Kerry and others who helped broker the “very bad” nuclear deal during the Obama administration.
“Big violation of Logan Act?” Trump asked, referring to a more than 200-year-old law that prohibits private citizens from acting on behalf of the United States in negotiations with foreign governments without authorization. No one has ever been convicted under the law.
[Opinion: Trump took another important step to fully ending Iran nuclear deal, now he must finish the job]
Saudi Arabia and others in OPEC will more than make up the Oil Flow difference in our now Full Sanctions on Iranian Oil. Iran is being given VERY BAD advice by @JohnKerry and people who helped him lead the U.S. into the very bad Iran Nuclear Deal. Big violation of Logan Act?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2019
Kerry met with foreign leaders, including Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, after Trump took office to discuss ways to save the nuclear deal, which Trump had been highly critical of. Kerry said he met with Zarif “three or four times,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt in September.
“What I have done is tried to elicit from him what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better,” he said.
Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May 2018.
The Trump administration announced Monday it would impose sanctions on countries that continue buying oil from Iran.
