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John Kerry Caught Meeting with Iranians in France, Photo Evidence Emerges

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Have you heard of the Logan Act? Probably not, since nobody’s ever been found guilty of violating it since its passage in 1799.

If you’re one of the many who are unfamiliar with it, it states:

“(a)ny 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.”

No one to date has ever been convicted of a Logan Act violation. There’s a first time for everything, however, and you could certainly find worse candidates for a conviction than John Kerry.

In a May 4 article, the Boston Globe revealed that the former secretary of state quietly had not one but two meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in an attempt to salvage the Iran deal.

Now, new photographic proof seems to show Kerry leaving a meeting with Iranian individuals in Paris, again raising speculation that Obama’s top diplomat continues to break the Logan Act.

The photo was uploaded by former Trump speechwriter Jason Osborne.

“So John Kerry just left a meeting @ L’Avenue in Paris w/3 Iranians. A friend was sitting next to their table and heard JK blasting (President Trump),” Osborne tweeted Saturday.

“The Iranians had a 5 person security detail and left in diplomatic vehicles. Is he FARA registered?”

FARA stands for Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law which requires the agents of foreign powers to be registered with the U.S. government. Osborne was implying, essentially, that Kerry is acting as an agent on behalf of the Iranians. It’s not hard to reach that conclusion when you combine this with his two secret meetings with the country’s foreign minister and the fact that he’s been outspoken in defending the Iran deal to anyone who will listen.

On Monday, just three days after the Globe’s story broke, Kerry was in Milan talking about how the Iran deal was “the single toughest and most transparent” nuclear deal in the world, in spite of the fact that the Iranians hadn’t really signed anything to get a whole raft of benefits.

Do you think that John Kerry violated the Logan Act?

“Our friends are safer if we stay in this agreement. We made an agreement, Iran is living by the agreement, yes we have concerns on the missiles and Yemen and other things, but we should be working on those,” Kerry told CNN after his remarks.

I don’t know what world John Kerry lives in. Apparently, it’s one where he’s still in power, Iran is obeying the nuclear deal and the agreement itself is airtight.

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Apparently, after a week of controversy regarding his behavior, Kerry still doesn’t care that he might be breaking the law. In fact, he’s more or less doubling down on the assumption that nobody’s going to stop him. Now he’s allegedly even meeting with Iranian diplomatic officials in Paris in broad daylight — and while this hasn’t been reported in the mainstream press yet, there is a photo that allegedly backs that story up.

Now, look at the text of the Logan Act and ask yourselves these questions. Is John Kerry acting “without authority of the United States?” Yes in italics, particularly given the fact that the Trump administration has told him very loudly to stop.

Is he carrying on “any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof?” At least three times that we know about, including twice with the foreign minister. Is he trying 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?”

Perhaps what’s surprising is that this probably isn’t the first time he’s likely violated the Logan Act, either. In 1970, as the leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Kerry traveled to Paris in order to meet with the North Vietnamese as they were negotiating the Paris Agreement.

Speaking of that occasion, Kerry said that was “on the borderline of private individuals negotiating.” This was well beyond that borderline, especially since it involves a pariah state and their development of nuclear weapons. After 219 years and repeated abuse by Mr. Kerry, it seems the Logan Act might finally be ready for it’s very first test drive.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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