GMF
>I don't remember anyone electing this guy to dictate foreign policy.
Assist
The Logan Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1799 that prohibits unauthorized American citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was created to prevent private individuals from undermining the government's official foreign policy.
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Logan Act Lingers For Others In Russia Probe, As All Eyes Look Up The Trump Ladder
February 14, 20177:14 PM ET
Domenico Montanaro - 2015
Domenico Montanaro
Then-national security adviser Michael Flynn, senior adviser Jared Kushner and President Trump. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Now, the focus moves to what he told investigators.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Updated Dec. 1 at 5:01 p.m. ET
Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, pleaded guilty Friday to providing false statements to the FBI. Those are less serious charges than he could have faced, because he is cooperating with special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigators.
Flynn likely has something to trade, as NPR's Carrie Johnson noted on All Things Considered Friday. Flynn was not acting alone, according to charging documents against him. In fact, there were multiple members of the presidential transition team who spoke with Flynn about his communications with the Russian ambassador.
That included a "very senior member," who "directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia …" Several news organizations have identified that individual as Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law.
White House Press Secretary Says Trump Fired Flynn As National Security Adviser
Politics
White House Press Secretary Says Trump Fired Flynn As National Security Adviser
The Logan Act often comes up in relation to the Russia investigation. Back in February, we noted that Flynn himself could have violated it. But now that Mueller is looking up the food chain, we dug out and refreshed our post explaining what it is, why it matters — and why it is seldom used.
What is the Logan Act?
The Logan Act states, in part (emphasis ours):
"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."
Let's break that down. This is saying that no private person can try to conduct foreign policy without the permission of the U.S. government.
Specifically, that person isn't allowed to talk with a foreign government or its representative and try to influence foreign policy — "directly or indirectly."
When was it put in place and why?
It's named for Dr. George Logan, a Democratic-Republican Party lawmaker from Pennsylvania, who traveled to France in 1798 and negotiated the lifting of an embargo and the release of American sailors held captive in French prisons.
He did so without the permission of President John Adams, though he was a friend of then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson's.
https://www.npr.org/2017/02/14/515279336/what-is-the-logan-act-and-why-does-it-matter