The Logan Act would never hold up against a constitutional challenge which is why no one has ever been prosecuted for violating it. It was passed as a partisan attack to deny credit for a political accomplishment. My backside that we do not as of yet still have freedom of speech which means we can express our opinions. The news does it day in and day out. Stop and think for a minute.
Also by constitutional right, the intelligence community does not get to check our garbage to see if we are committing a crime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act History[edit <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Logan_Act&action=edit§ion=1> ] In 1798, amid tensions between the U.S. and France <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France>, President Adams sent three envoys to France to negotiate. Negotiations were unsuccessful. Dr. George Logan <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Logan> of Pennsylvania <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania>, a state legislator and pacifist <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifist>, in 1798 engaged in negotiations with France as a private citizen during the Quasi-War <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-War>.[2] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-Seitzinger-2>[3] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-npr-3> The Logan Act was basically a response to an effort by a Philadelphia Quaker named George Logan to try to negotiate directly with the French government. This was a big scandal at the time in foreign affairs because Logan—a Democratic-Republican <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party>—was trying to thwart the policy of the Federalists <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Party>, who controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. — Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas School of Law <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_School_of_Law>[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-twsAtl393-4> Kevin Kearney, writing in the *Emory Law Journal*, described Dr. Logan's activities in France: Upon his arrival in Paris, he met with various French officials, including Talleyrand <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talleyrand>. During these meetings, he identified himself as a private citizen, discussed matters of general interest to the French, and told his audience that anti-French sentiment was prevalent in the United States. Logan's conversation with Merlin de Douai <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe-Antoine_Merlin_de_Douai>, who occupied the highest political office in the French republic, was typical. Logan stated that he did not intend to explain the American government's position, nor to criticize that of France. Instead, he suggested ways in which France could improve relations with the United States, to the benefit of both countries. He also told Merlin that pro-British propagandists in the United States were portraying the French as corrupt and anxious for war, and were stating that any friend of French principles necessarily was an enemy of the United States. Within days of Logan's last meeting, the French took steps to relieve the tensions between the two nations; they lifted the trade embargo then in place, and released American seamen held captive in French jails. Even so, it seems that Logan's actions were not the primary cause of the Directory's <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Directory> actions; instead, Logan had merely provided convenient timing for the implementation of a decision that had already been made.[5] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-Kearney-5> Despite the apparent success of Logan's mission, his activities aroused the opposition of the Federalist Party <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Party> in Congress, who were resentful of the praise showered on Logan by oppositional Democratic-Republican <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican> newspapers. Secretary of State <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State> Timothy Pickering <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Pickering>, also of Pennsylvania, responded by suggesting that Congress "act to curb the temerity and impudence of individuals affecting to interfere in public affairs between France and the United States." The result was that Rep. Roger Griswold <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Griswold> introduced the Logan Act.[6] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-6> It was pushed through by the Federalist majority in Congress by votes of 58–36 in the House, and 18–2 in the Senate.[5] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-Kearney-5> Logan, himself, could not be punished by the Logan law, since it is unconstitutional to write a law and then punish a person from disobeying the law before the law was written, that is, the Constitution does not allow retroactive laws <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law>; rather, the intent was to discourage future Logans from conducting foreign policy at cross purposes with the current administration.[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-twsAtl393-4> Subsequently, Logan himself was appointed and then elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate> from Pennsylvania, and served from July 13, 1801, to March 3, 1807. He was unsuccessful in getting the Logan Act repealed. Despite the Logan Act, he went to England in 1810 on a private diplomatic mission as an emissary of peace in the period before the outbreak of the War of 1812 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812>, but was not successful. During the nineteenth century, the act lay "dormant", partly since American foreign policy receded in importance as an issue.[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-twsAtl393-4> During the twentieth century, however, with the Supreme Court paying greater attention to cases involving the First <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution> and Fifth <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution> amendments to the Constitution <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution>, and with the possibility of American foreign policy being more influenced by private individuals becoming more of a prominent issue in politics, there have been more cases potentially involving the Logan Act.[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-twsAtl393-4> Still, the Logan Act has been rarely enforced, possibly because the court has been concerned that speech between a private citizen and a foreign government may still qualify as free speech <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States> and be protected in that regard.[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act#cite_note-twsAtl393-4> On Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 8:54:38 AM UTC-6, Kamakazee wrote: > > *Intelligence Official: Transcripts Of Flynn's Calls Don't Show Criminal > Wrongdoing* > > A current U.S. intelligence official tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that > there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the transcripts of former > National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's conversations with Russian > Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, although the official noted that doesn't rule > out the possibility of illegal actions. > > > The official also says that there are recordings as well as transcripts of > the calls, and that the transcripts don't suggest Flynn was acting under > orders in his conversations. > > > The Logan Act bars a private individual from conducting foreign policy > without the permission of the U.S. government. For instance, if Flynn told > the ambassador the Trump administration would drop the sanctions, that > would have been illegal. > > > http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/15/515437291/intelligence-official-transcripts-of-flynns-calls-dont-show-criminal-wrongdoing > > > I don't think I heard it referenced one time in connection with the > Clinton Foundation > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
