‘Damascus Nancy’ And Unlawful Diplomacy
Nancy Pelosi’s recent bumbling
foray into foreign policy with Syria shows why diplomacy should be left
to that branch of government – the executive branch – that actually has the
authority to conduct it. Pelosi conveyed a ‘peace message’ from Ehud Olmert
to Bashar Assad that – woops! – the Israeli government says it never gave to
Pelosi. Apparently Nuancy not only missed the shades of gray there, she missed
the black and white as well.
Amateurish and embarassing, yes, but is it illegal also? There is a law called
the Logan Act that forbids U.S. citizens from conducting diplomacy without approval
from the government. The act, as amended in 2004, reads as follows:
18 U.S.C. § 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
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.
Members of Congress are not immune from the Act, nor do members of Congress
have any constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy. The role of the
Senates in foreign policy is basically to ratify treaties and confirm ambassadors.
The role of the House is to declare war, and control the purse strings. That’s
it, no more – only the President has the power to actually conduct or authorize
foreign policy and diplomacy. Congress has no more authority to conduct diplomacy
than it has to tell General Petraeus how to run the war in Iraq (and why do
Democrats find it chronically impossible to understand the separation of powers
doctrine? Is it laziness, political expediency, or mis/disinformation? Inquiring
minds want to know).
Some have come close to violating the Logan Act: in 1971 John Kerry treacherously
met with North Vietnamese government officials in Paris while President Nixon
was trying to negotiate peace. Kerry much more recently raised toasts with the
mullahs in Iran while proclaiming that the U.S. is a ‘pariah state’. The irony
of declaring the U.S a pariah state from Tehran was obviously lost on
the master of nuance. Speaker of the House Jim Wright nearly ran afoul of it
for meeting with the Sandinistas, Jesse Jackson came up with a propaganda ‘agreement’
with Fidel Castro, and Messrs. Jim McDermott and David Bonior infamously provided
aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Iraq invasion.
Given that history, can Nancy Pelosi be prosecuted under the terms of the Logan
Act? Well, sure. A federal grand jury can indict a ham sandwich if it so chooses,
but such a case is not likely to go anywhere for a myriad of reasons. As a matter
of practical policy, no one has ever been prosecuted under the Act since it
was passed in 1799. Moreover, the Logan Act may well be unconstitutional because
it is vague
and overbroad, thus leaving citizens to guess what behavior is proscribed, and
criminalizing speech that would otherwise be protected. There is a question
however, as to whether First Amendment protections extend to speech by U.S.
citizens in foreign countries. But, no matter: it would be politically impossible
for such a prosecution to take place. If the DoJ ever tried to prosecute the
Speaker of the House for conducting unlawful diplomacy, it would certainly,
invariably, lead to more silly show trials on the Hill, more calls for the impeachment
of Bush, and spin in the mainstream media that would attempt to convince you
that Pelosi, not Bush, is actually President.
Sadly, too many Americans would believe that to make such a prosecution possible.
Crossposted from WILLisms.com
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