I think that will be the least of our worries if Trump is elected.
This law also only applies to situations that involve some actual dispute with a foreign state. Which doesn’t appear to be the case here. He’s just running around telling officials from these countries what Trump is going to do if elected. What would run afoul of the law, just as an example, is if a private citizen went to Russia right now and met with Putin to make some kind of deal for the release of Evan Gershkovich. Even then, I think it would be iffy. If it’s true that a representative of Ronald Reagan actually made a deal with Iran to not release American hostages until after the 1980 election, that would be more clearly in violation of the Logan Act. That is widely believed, and there’s one person from the Reagan administration who insists it’s true, but it’s not proven, and I doubt anyone will ever be charged for that. But that’s the kind of situation the law addresses. It has to be over an actual dispute between the US and another country. And that doesn’t seem to be the case with this guy going around on Trump’s behalf.
This is actually maybe not a horrible idea. Arkansas is in the path of totality. The number of people traveling to areas in the path of totality is kind of crazy, and Arkansas is not a big state. If they have a massive influx of people on Monday, it could actually cause gas shortages when those people get ready to leave and drive back home. The article you linked actually mentions this is being done for that reason. Huckabee Sanders is a garbage human. But this is probably not a bad thing she’s doing.
Sure. Me too. But if Biden wins, this becomes moot. If Biden loses, this still becomes moot because it’s not like he’s going to be prosecuted for it with Trump in office. And again, they’re not going to prosecute him for it now. It probably doesn’t violate the Logan Act, and the Logan Act is practically a zombie law anyway. The last time anyone was charged with violating that law was in 1852. And no one has ever been convicted of violating it. It theoretically could still be used, but it’s not going to be.
Ok, but the Logan Act can’t do that. We need to focus on things that actually are going to work. I mean, hell, the current trials against Trump himself are unlikely to conclude before the election because his constant delay tactics always work. And now we want to start a new prosecution of a Trump associate using a law that hasn’t been used in 172 years that almost certainly doesn’t apply to the facts here? I’m not being defeatist. This just isn’t going to work. It would be a waste of time and resources, and we don’t have a lot of the former.
There’s a guy calling himself an envoy - a clearly governmental title- meeting with foreign leaders and very likely undermining his government’s foreign policy. Whether the Logan Act or other statutes apply is worthy of investigation and hearings. And certainly is something that the government should discern as it may be undermining important interests right now.
And part of that is political, not just legal. It’s also an intelligence concern.
Normally, maybe. But it took the Justice Department, what, two years to file charges against Trump? They might be investigating this guy now, who knows? But they’re not charging him before November unless Merrick Garland has a medical problem, has to resign, and gets replaced by an AG who believes in moving faster than a glacier. Who else would normally investigate things like this? The House of Representatives. Yeah, that’s obviously not happening.
I have no faith that our current justice system is going to do anything to stop Trump. The Federalist Society has had too much influence in shaping it. We have one reliable way out of this, and that’s the election in November.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The media. Intelligence agencies. The State Department over his security clearance.
He doesn’t need to be charged to have an investigation. There’s an investigation to see if there might be charges and to see if a guy who was made Acting DNI by a guy who stole classified information is a security risk and undermining the foreign policy of a sitting president in the service of a guy charged with crimes related to national security.
Edit:
Stealing classified documents and showing them to people. Who knows what information this guy is sharing with people like Orban?
Not so sure he’s calling himself that. I think that’s media reporting. He’s functioning like that, yes. But he can easily claim he’s not official in any way, just talking to folks, you know, as one does. It sucks, but I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to be done about it. Dems tend to play by the rules, after all.
It strikes me that cases like this should absolutely be a means of breaking up these white supremacist networks, but once again, despite the VERY clear links with a larger, violent organization, it’ll be treated like an “lone wolf” situation… it’s enraging.
It seems Donald Trump Jr.’s truly disgusting racism, bigotry, and unadulterated hatred has been put on full display for the world to see, thanks to a lawsuit and subsequent court battle being fought by one of the former First Son’s close friends.
Well…but it’s the Speaker of the House who’d blocking support for Ukraine. If the Speaker of the House wants to take his cues from the former President, that’s stupid but not illegal. Hell, the Speaker doesn’t technically even need to be a member of the House.
Ok. But do we know that’s what this guy who’s running around on Trump’s behalf is doing? I haven’t heard any accusations that he’s actually trying to tell other countries what to do. Just spouting the usual bullshit about what Trump has planned. And I doubt very seriously if any countries that are currently aiding Ukraine would be inclined to listen to him. It’s more likely to be countries like Hungary.
← my shocked face.