The Boston Globe has a big scoop: John Kerry has been quietly meeting with foreign diplomats from Iran, Germany, the EU, and other countries as part of a coordinated campaign to try to keep President Trump from pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. This behavior is raising a few eyebrows, notes the Globe:
Something else about what’s going on here is worth mentioning. What Kerry is doing here raises questions about violating the Logan Act, an 18th-century law that says private citizens can’t interfere in matters “relating to controversies or disputes which do or shall exist” between the United States and foreign powers. Before we jump to conclusions, some facts about the law in question:
And yet, last year the Washington Post, New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Reuters—among other outlets—all credulously reported that Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, was potentially guilty of violating the Logan Act for discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Indeed, the Washington Post later reported that “that seeking to build a case against Flynn for violating an obscure 1799 statute known as the Logan Act—which bars private citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes—would be legally and politically daunting. Several officials said that while sanctions were discussed between Flynn and [Russian ambassador] Kislyak in the December call, they did not see evidence in the intercept that Flynn had an ‘intent’ to convey an explicit promise to take action after the inauguration.”
A comparison between Kerry and Flynn is unavoidable. As an incoming national security adviser, Flynn discussed a sensitive matter with the Russian ambassador, and this was picked up by covert government surveillance. Acting attorney general Sally Yates later told Congress the Logan Act was one of the justifications for investigating Flynn. After the fact, “Obama advisers” tell the New York Times (and other media outlets) they are concerned about whether Flynn violated an unconstitutional law no one takes seriously. When it’s suggested that the reason that Logan Act accusations keep popping up is because former Obama officials are coordinating a campaign against the incoming administration precisely because the Flynn and the Trump administration want to undo the Iran nuclear deal, Obama NSA spokesman calls the idea “bizarre conspiracy theories about Iran Deal.” After weeks of stories implying that Flynn broke the law, the Washington Post concedes making a case against Flynn for violating the Logan Act is “legally and politically daunting” and notes that Flynn was ultimately noncommittal on promising anything to the Russians about sanctions.
Kerry left the State Department last year. Reports indicate he is meeting with multiple foreign officials directly, including Iran. And far from being noncommittal, he is doing so as part of a coordinated campaign to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, which appears to be a direct attempt to undermine the foreign policy of the existing administration. Here’s how the Boston Globe reports on the Logan Act angle:
Vladeck’s contention that Kerry isn’t violating the Logan Act, because the Iran deal is already in place (albeit on a fairly shaky constitutional pretext), is odd. One of the major problems with enforcing the Logan Act is how broad it is. The text seems to cover virtually all foreign lobbying: “Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
As much as I dislike the utterly scandalous way the Obama administration deceived the press and public about the Iran deal, nothing about what Kerry is doing here to lobby for preserving the Iran deal is demonstrably illegal. Of course, that’s not stopping the predictable reaction from the administartion: Here’s the Trump tweet (right on cue):
The United States does not need John Kerry’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal. He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018
While Trump stirring up yet more public outrage over Kerry’s alleged Logan Act violations may be an effective political retort in the short-term, continued discussion of this archaic and unconstitutional law still serves mostly to fuel conspiratorial nonsense and partisan division. So with that in mind, here’s a not-so-modest proposal: Congress should get off its duff and repeal this stupid law before it does more harm than it already has.
