Opinion Elder Patriot – ICYMI 5/19| President Trump has accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating federal law by siding with Iran over US interests.
Trump accused Kerry of violating 18 U.S. Code § 953, commonly known as the Logan Act, over his ongoing dealings with Iran during the past year plus.
The relevant portion of the code is clear:
“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.”
Kerry’s term as Secretary of State ended with the Middle East in turmoil amid multiple wars, Israel dangling in the wind, the export of terrorism from that region of the world on the rise, an exodus of displaced Muslims seeking asylum around the world, and Iran flush with U.S. dollars and on a path to developing nuclear weapons.
Regardless, Kerry remained committed to the Iran Nuclear Deal that, along with the surrounding turmoil, would empower Iranian hegemony.
Even after Kerry was voted out of office, he continued undermining the current president and his administration, meeting on multiple occasions with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif encouraging Zarif to hold tight until President Trump was removed from office.
By early May of 2018 Kerry had spent the previous two months aggressively pursuing an unauthorized campaign to salvage the deal with Iran by meeting with foreign leaders who he hoped will apply enough pressure to the president to make him change his mind.
These meetings were on top of Kerry’s late January 2018 head to head with a close associate of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Hussein Agha.
At that time the Jerusalem Post reported that Kerry had deliberately undermined President Trump’s strategy towards the Palestinian Authority:
“Ma’ariv reported that former US Secretary of State John Kerry met in London with a close associate of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Hussein Agha, for a long and open conversation about a variety of topics.”
[…]
“During the conversation, according to the report, Kerry asked Agha to convey a message to Abbas and ask him to “hold on and be strong.” Tell him, he told Agha, “that he should stay strong in his spirit and play for time, that he will not break and will not yield to President Trump’s demands. According to Kerry, Trump will not remain in office for a long time. It was reported that within a year there was a good chance that Trump would not be in the White House.”
Even after President Trump withdrew from the deal Kerry continued meeting with Iranian officials:
So John Kerry just left a meeting @ L’Avenue in Paris w/3 Iranians. A friend was sitting next to their table and heard JK blasting @realDonaldTrump. The Iranians had a 5 person security detail and left in diplomatic vehicles. Is he FARA registered? @seanhannity @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/vVYwDQTPNb
— Jason Osborne (@_JasonOsborne) May 12, 2018
The one in front is certainly Kamal Kharazi (#Iran regime's FM from 1997-2005). The one behind the door looks very similar to Abolghassem Delfi (current Ambassador to France). See photos for comparison. Please bear in mind these ppl aren't diplomats. They're diplomat-terrorists. pic.twitter.com/4ZoSA9cyJ6
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) May 13, 2018
Consider this op-ed that Fox News ran at the time:
“An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the meetings after the Boston Globe broke the news, declaring, “We don’t see the U.S. just as Mr. Trump; the United States is not just the current ruling administration.” Think about what this means. Iran is a terrorist state responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in Iraq, whose leaders hold rallies where thousands chant “Death to America!” Kerry was working with a sworn enemy of the United States to try to undermine the foreign policy of the elected president of the United States.”
[…]
“Kerry’s meetings with Iran’s leaders were not isolated incidents, but part of a formal lobbying campaign that included phone calls with European Union leaders and meetings with the presidents of Germany and France in which, the Globe reports, he discussed “the details of sanctions and regional nuclear threats in both French and English.”
Trump told reporters at the White House that Kerry’s actions were “a violation of the Logan Act and frankly he should be prosecuted on that, but my people don’t want to do anything on that.”