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During interviews to promote his new book this past September Kerry told an interviewer that he has met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif three or four times since leaving office and that their talks touched on the international nuclear agreement
This was the first time Kerry admitted this violation, but in May of this year, the Boston Globe reported that he had been secretly meeting with the Iranian foreign minister and European leaders, advising them on how to save the flawed JCPOA.
The President is saying that Kerry’s meetings were a violation of the Logan Act. And the stepfather of the Heinz Ketchup fortune has violated the Logan Act before.
In 1985, Senator John Kerry traveled to Nicaragua for a friendly get-together with the Sandinista president, Daniel Ortega. The position of the Reagan administration was to support the opposition Contras.
Kerry wasn’t much interested in the administration’s position. Upon his return to the United States, Kerry met with President Reagan to convey a message from Ortega. Reagan “wasn’t thrilled,” Kerry later told the New York Times.
In 2006 Kerry went to Syria to meet with Assad over the objections of President Bush #43, who was trying to isolate the Syrian despot at the time.
Jan 2018 Israeli Newspaper Ma’ariv reported Kerry gave a message to Palestinian Pres. Abbas,“that he should stay strong in his spirit and play for time, that he should not break and will not yield to President Trump’s demands,” because Trump will be out of office within the year”
There are those who say Senator Tom Cotton’s March 2015 open letter to the Iranian regime was an example of breaking the Logan Act. But the message wasn’t a negotiation, it didn’t even discuss possible terms of a deal.
The Cotton letter signed by 47 Senators simply explained how the constitution worked and that any agreement that wasn’t ratified by the Senate could be overturned (which is precisely what happened).
Ironically Kerry objected to the Tom Cotton letter, “During my 29 years here in the Senate, I have never heard of—nor even heard of it being proposed—anything comparable to this,” Kerry said.
“If I had, I can guarantee that no matter who was president of what the issue was and no matter who the president was, I would have certainly rejected it.”
John Kerry isn’t the only Democrat who became a foreign policy rogue. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, former peanut president Jimmy Carter wrote to members of the United Nations Security Council and asked them not to support the use of force against Hussein.
Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008, Carter met with Hamas against the wishes of President Bush. After days of negotiation, he announced to the world that Hamas was just a peace-loving bunch of good guys and they were ready to recognize Israel.
Even Barack Obama! Five months before the 2008 Election, Barack Obama secretly told Iraq to stall on the Status of Forces Agreement they were negotiating with Bush #43. Amir Taheri reported in the NY Post, “
After Obama became President the negotiations failed (some say on purpose) which opened up the door for ISIS to grow in Iraq.
Some Democrats claim Michael Flynn violated the Logan Act by dealing with the Russian ambassador during the Presidential transition of Donald Trump. However, as the incoming national security advisor, his contact was entirely justified.
But perhaps the most egregious example when Ted Kennedy told the USSR he would help them with negotiating with Reagan if they would help him become President in 1988.
In the Early 1980’s President, Ronald Reagan was isolating the Soviet Union, while rearming the US at a pace that the USSR could not keep up with.
His strategy, eventually resulted in ending the cold war, destroying the Soviet Union and bringing down the Communist dictatorships across Eastern Europe.
However, instead of being seen as a traitor who tried to ruin what eventually became a successful strategy to win the cold war, Ted Kennedy is seen as a great senator, “The Lion of The Senate,” he should be called the “Lying of the Senate.”
BTW the Logan Act was named after Dr. George Logan, who took it upon himself to negotiate with France in 1798. It has nothing to do with the X-Man character Wolverine who is called Logan because it was the last name of his biological father.
