Has Obama committed a felony violation of the Logan Act?
The Logan Act, passed in 1799 and amended in 1994, is says this:
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.
With that definition in mind, let’s look at what Obama is said to have done according to this piece by Amir Taheri in The New York Post:
While campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.
Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops – and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”
A couple of points:
Obama is not only irresponsibly meddling in the executive branch’s constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy, he’s blatantly playing politics with Iraqi policy in general and our troops specifically. Getting the troops home faster is what Obama wants, no? Not unless He gets credit for it, I suppose. As Ed Morrissey notes:
If Obama wants to negotiate a defeat for America, he needs to wait until Americans elect him to the White House before betraying our allies and our troops in the field.
Second: Congress should not “be involved in negotiations on the status of U.S. troops” — not under our Constitution, anyway. There’s a reason why heads of state, and not 535 members of Congress, negotiate with foreign governments. The former is orderly and lawful. The latter is chaotic and unlawful. Congress is in its right to “negotiate” with the executive branch, not directly with foreign powers.
Is this pretty blatant violation of the Logan Act perhaps a tad more significant story than the non-scandal of Sarah Palin not banning books in Wasilla? And how can a man whose instincts are to put his political ambition above the national interest be trusted with the White House? Audacity, indeed.
(HT: Jonah)
