The Logan Act has been in force since 1799, and is still in effect; after all, as our esteemed border czar Tom “The Hammer” Homan points out, the Constitution is even older, and we still (well, most of us) abide by that. Since 1799, only two people have been charged under the Logan Act: In 1802, a Kentucky farmer, Francis Flournoy, was charged for advocating for a new western state, not affiliated with the United States but allied with France. Then, in 1852, a sailor named Jonas Phillips Levy corresponded with the government of Mexico, opposing an American negotiation with Mexico over a railway.
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There are a lot more details surrounding both of those cases, but those are the broad strokes. Neither man was convicted, and enforcement of the Jones Act kind of faded away. No American has been charged under the Jones Act since 1852.
Now, though, it may be time to blow the dust off the Logan Act and start filing some charges.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., sudden trip to El Salvador to try to free deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia is getting the attention of critics who believe the Maryland Democrat may have violated a 1799 law prohibiting unauthorized diplomacy.
The Logan Act – named for former Pennsylvania Sen. George Logan – stipulates a fine and/or imprisonment for Americans corresponding with foreign officials “with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.”
Logan met with French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand after Paris rebuffed President John Adams, and he attempted to entreat him – in part via a letter from Vice President Thomas Jefferson – to end the Franco-American hostilities of the so-called “Quasi War.”
In that way, several prominent conservatives questioned whether Van Hollen’s actions similarly violated the law.
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It isn’t a great leap of imagination to see what chaos could be caused by random legislators, claiming to be representing a constituent, jetting around the globe agitating for meetings with foreign leaders. That’s why the Constitution places foreign affairs in the realm of the executive branch, not the legislative. What Chris Van Hollen did – and what other Democrats are proposing to do – is a violation of the Logan Act.
“Why hasn’t this U.S. senator been arrested for violation of the Logan Act? It’s illegal to conduct your own foreign policy,” longtime Republican consultant Roger Stone tweeted.
WMAL host Vince Coglianese read the Logan Act statute aloud and asked his audience whether Van Hollen had done what the code outlined.
“Is Chris Van Hollen violating the Logan Act?” Coglianese said. “Because this is what they accused General [Michael] Flynn of doing … the incoming national security advisor … who was merely having conversations with foreign diplomats [after] people had chosen President Donald Trump.”
One could make an argument that if Van Hollen, or other Democrats, simply went to El Salvador and even requested a visit with the MS-13 member they are slobbering over, that may have been one thing; but Van Hollen was pushing for a meeting with Salvadoran government officials – and he succeeded, having met with their vice president.
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The text of the Logan Act is pretty straightforward:
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.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
It’s pretty clear that what Chris Van Hollen did, in demanding a meeting with El Salvador’s government, in making requests that they change their policy and make some kind of exception for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, violated the Logan Act. He directly carried on intercourse (meeting) with an officer of the government of El Salvador, with the intent to influence the conduct of that government.
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To Attorney General Bondi, I would say this: It’s time to dust off the Logan Act. These people are working counter to the executive branch, whose role is to conduct foreign policy. Chris Van Hollen broke the law. Let’s see some indictments.
This post was originally published on here
