Wait For It

After Jimmy Carter’s latest trip to the Middle East I fully expect to hear Republicans bringing up the law about private citizens not conducting foreign policy. For the edification of my readers here is the actual law: Logan Act

1 Stat. 613, January 30, 1799
Codified as Title 18 U.S. Code § 953 (2004).

§ 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.

May as well “nip this in the bud”, as my favorite deputy used to say.

This was one of a series of laws passed during the administration of John Adams, the more anti-democratic of which are the Alien and Sedition Acts, all but one of which were repealed or expired during the Jefferson administration. They were part of an national divide as to the American reaction to the French Revolution.

The basic problem with trying to apply this law to Carter’s trip is that there is no Palestinian nation, ergo there is no foreign government for him to deal with, as required by the clear language of the law. He talked to people in Hamas, which is, among many things, a political party. Even if there were a Palestinian nation, the conflict is between the Palestinians and Israelis, not the United States.

Given that Jimmy Carter has just, in his quiet, polite, Southern manner called Secretary of State Rice a liar for implying that he had been told not to talk to Hamas, I expect the Logan Act to make an appearance at a Republican event in the very near future.