{"id":65144,"date":"2018-05-09T06:26:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T06:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=65144"},"modified":"2018-05-09T06:26:19","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T06:26:19","slug":"trump-takes-aim-at-kerry-again-ahead-of-announcement-on-iran-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/trump-takes-aim-at-kerry-again-ahead-of-announcement-on-iran-deal.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump Takes Aim at Kerry Again Ahead of Announcement on Iran Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump Takes Aim at Kerry Again Ahead of Announcement on Iran Deal<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

President Trump is again warning John Kerry, the former secretary of state, to keep out of discussions over whether to remain in the Iran nuclear deal \u2014 a decision the White House is expected to announce on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

A day earlier, the president accused Mr. Kerry, who helped broker the 2015 nuclear deal, of engaging in \u201cpossibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy\u201d \u2014 a charge disputed by some legal scholars who say the same characterization could have applied to Mr. Trump when he was a candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2015 accord among world powers limited Tehran\u2019s nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions against Iran. A parade of European diplomats have in recent weeks urged the Trump administration not to abandon the agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Kerry has also been trying to save it. He has strategized with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, met with European officials and lobbied members of Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump did not specify what was illegal about Mr. Kerry\u2019s actions, and the White House would not comment. But Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president\u2019s personal lawyer, accused Mr. Kerry of \u201cviolating the Logan Act,\u201d adding, \u201cAnd nobody seems to care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As The New York Times\u2019s Charlie Savage has previously explained:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Logan Act is a 1799 statute that bars private citizens from interfering with diplomatic relations between the United States and foreign governments. It makes it a felony, punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years, if an American citizen, without government authorization, interacts \u201cwith 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesman for Mr. Kerry declined to comment on Monday on Mr. Trump\u2019s charges of illegality. A statement released by Mr. Kerry\u2019s office said he \u201cstays in touch with his former counterparts around the world just like every previous secretary of state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike America\u2019s closest allies,\u201d the statement said, \u201che believes it is important that the nuclear agreement, which took the world years to negotiate, remain effective as countries focus on stability in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It appears that whether Mr. Kerry violated the law is a matter of legal interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the Iran deal is still in place \u2014 as of Monday \u2014 Mr. Kerry has not undermined or opposed American foreign policy, said Daniel Rice, a fellow at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the Trump administration has not yet decided to reimpose sanctions on Iran, the existing nuclear deal framework \u2014 and not its repudiation \u2014 is currently a \u2018measure of the United States,\u2019\u201d Mr. Rice said. \u201cBy attempting to salvage the deal, Kerry plainly did not intend to \u2018defeat\u2019 a measure of the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it also depends on exactly what Mr. Kerry said to the foreign officials, said Eric Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf he has gone further than merely expressing his opinion, and tried to influence the actions of foreign governments by, for example, making promises on behalf of a future Democratic president or Congress, and these promises are credible, there is an arguable Logan Act violation,\u201d Mr. Posner said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The legal scholars interviewed by The Times all stressed that the law is a paper tiger that has never been seriously enforced. (Two said it may be unconstitutional.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the Logan Act has occasionally resurfaced as a political cudgel.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s \u201cperfectly plausible\u201d to argue that Mr. Kerry violated the Logan Act, \u201cit\u2019s been violated hundreds of times\u201d with no repercussions, said Michael McConnell, a law professor at Stanford University.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accused violators include Henry A. Wallace, the former vice president who lobbied against the Truman Doctrine; Jane Fonda, the actress who traveled to Hanoi during the Vietnam War; the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights activist who visited Cuba during a presidential campaign against Ronald Reagan; and 47 Republican senators who wrote to the government of Iran in 2015 to oppose the nuclear deal before it was struck.<\/span><\/p>\n

The law resurfaced again last year, when it was revealed that Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump\u2019s first national security adviser, had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador in late 2016 \u2014 before the president\u2019s inauguration.<\/span><\/p>\n

And Mr. Trump himself may have committed the same offense as Mr. Kerry when, during the 2016 campaign, he invited Russia to hack Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails, said Timothy Zick, a law professor at the College of William and Mary. (The suggestion of a Logan Act violation did emerge at the time.)<\/span><\/p>\n

But given that there have been no prosecutions under the Logan Act in its history, scholars said it\u2019s hard to predict whether Mr. Kerry would be convicted \u2014 even if a case was brought against him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Logan Act has \u201cbeen a dead letter for hundreds of years,\u201d Mr. McConnell said. \u201cIts only function is mischief.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/07\/us\/politics\/trump-kerry-iran-nuclear-deal-illegal.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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