{"id":2353199,"date":"2024-10-10T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/critics-say-trumps-calls-with-putin-violated-the-logan-act-what-is-it-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-10T13:01:55","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T17:01:55","slug":"critics-say-trumps-calls-with-putin-violated-the-logan-act-what-is-it-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/critics-say-trumps-calls-with-putin-violated-the-logan-act-what-is-it-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics say Trump\u2019s calls with Putin violated the Logan Act. What is it? &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcritics-say-trumps-calls-with-putin-violated-the-logan-act-what-is-it-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2353199&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Logan Act has resurfaced in discussions surrounding former President Donald Trump&#8217;s \u2064alleged private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Critics of Trump claim \u2064that \u2062these\u2064 discussions could violate this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-legalizes-recreational-marijuana\/\" title=\"New York Legalizes Recreational Marijuana\">historic law<\/a>, established in 1799, \u2064which\u200d prohibits unauthorized negotiations between American citizens and foreign governments that could undermine U.S.\u200c interests. The Act\u200d was inspired by the \u2062actions of Pennsylvania Senator George Logan, who sought to negotiate\u2064 peace during the\u200c Quasi-War with France, prompting widespread\u2063 backlash. Though a felony punishable by up\u2062 to three \u200dyears in prison, the Logan Act\u2063 has\u200d rarely been enforced, \u2062with only two individuals indicted\u200c since its inception, neither of whom were convicted. Legal experts argue that any modern prosecutions under the Act might face significant challenges\u2062 in court due to established free \u200bspeech protections. Historically, former officials and politicians engaging with foreign leaders on\u2064 their\u200b own have not been charged under the Act, regardless of political affiliation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Critics say Trump&rsquo;s calls with Putin violated the Logan Act. What is it?<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1792047\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2060645\/mueller-report-makes-clear-the-logan-act-is-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Logan Act\">Logan Act<\/a> has once again entered the headlines over former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump's\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> reported post-presidential conversations with Russian President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/vladimir-putin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Vladimir Putin\">Vladimir Putin<\/a>. Critics have slammed Trump for the alleged conversations, saying they would violate a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-delivers-flood-of-cheap-migrant-labor-to-new-york\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Delivers Flood of Cheap Migrant Labor to New York\">long-standing law<\/a>, the Logan Act.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The Logan Act was an early piece of legislation enacted in 1799, named after Pennsylvania Sen. George Logan. Logan, a pacifist, sparked outrage at home when he traveled to France on his own accord to try and negotiate an end to the Quasi-War with France. Adding to the scandal, he was a Democratic-Republican, opposed to the ruling Federalist Party. President George Washington himself voiced his disapproval of Logan&rsquo;s conduct, <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/crs\/misc\/RL33265.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"according to\">according to<\/a> the Congressional Research Service. In response, Congress passed a law banning negotiations between private citizens and foreign governments that would undermine the United States&rsquo;s position.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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, 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,&rdquo; the Logan Act states.<\/p>\n<p>It clarifies that it does not &ldquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Logan himself unsuccessfully campaigned to get the Logan Act repealed. Despite it being in place, Logan embarked on a similar mission in 1810 to try and prevent the outbreak of the War of 1812 but wasn&rsquo;t indicted under the act.<\/p>\n<p>Though a felony, punishable by up to three years in prison, the Logan Act appears to have been largely symbolic, seldom being used. In the 225 years since it was passed, only two people have ever been indicted under the act, one in 1802 and one in 1851, and none have been convicted.<\/p>\n<p>Any prosecutions under the Logan Act today would be sure to invite a battle in the Supreme Court having seemingly been rendered largely obsolete by federal courts. Georgetown University Law Center professor Stephen Vladeck argued that &ldquo;a Logan Act prosecution would fall apart because of subsequent federal free speech cases that have taken a dim view of attempts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-there-is-zero-chance-trump-will-be-convicted-impeachment-a-partisan-hearing\/\" title=\"Rand Paul: There Is \u2018Zero\u2019 Chance Trump Will Be Convicted, Impeachment A \u2018Partisan\u2019 Hearing\">criminalize speech<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Former presidents and politicians, Republicans and Democrats, frequently meet with foreign leaders on their own accord. To date, none have been charged with violating the Logan Act.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and Republicans have periodically floated prosecutions under the Logan Act in recent years, usually toward political opponents. Former Secretary of State John Kerry and Trump are two favorite targets for prosecution under the Act.<\/p>\n<p>The Logan Act is back in the news after Bob Woodward revealed in his new book <em>War<\/em>, citing an anonymous Trump staffer, that Trump and Putin have talked over the phone several times since the former president left office. The details of the conversations weren&rsquo;t made clear.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin and Trump&rsquo;s team both denied that phone calls between the two had taken place.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,&rdquo; Trump spokesman Steven Cheung <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/3182554\/kremlin-confirms-trump-sent-putin-covid-19-tests-denies-phone-calls\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> of the book in a statement. &ldquo;Woodward is an angry, little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1792047\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1792047\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Critics claim Trump&#8217;s talks with Putin breached the Logan Act<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2353200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Congress_Budget_Spending_Fiscal_ff2.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4365,42732,3733,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2353199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-critics","tag-logan-act","tag-putin","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Congress_Budget_Spending_Fiscal_ff2.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}