It suggests nothing like that to me. Are you saying that writing a letter to an enemy to derail an ongoing negotiation is not communicating with a foreign power? It doesn't fly. "Any correspondence", the Act states.
Very much so, but it also violated Logan Act provisions.
An open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government)
...which you should seriously consider as negotiations proceed (intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government)
...we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is no approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next President could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen. (intent to defeat the measures of the United States)
Obfuscation. There is no statement that correspondence has to continue or keep going or be responded to.
It doesn't matter what you believe. All it takes is an attempt to influence Tehran, which it clearly does.
Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday joined the chorus of criticism against the open letter that 47 Republican senators addressed to the country’s leaders Monday, saying the message suggests the United States is “not trustworthy,” according to a report from The Associated Press citing an Iranian state TV website.
“This kind of communication is unprecedented and undiplomatic,” Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif was quoted as saying, according to AP.
Not at all. There was no agreement, treaty, or negotiation with Syria that he attempted to influence. He merely asked for the release of a US pilot. I know you don't care about the US pilot, but he was a prisoner. And you are ignoring Iran Contra again. Reagan traded missiles illegally to Iran to obtain the release of 7 prisoners in Lebanon. That would make him and his henchmen guilty of the Logan Act as well, if that was all it took.
Disingenuous. you wrote a paragraph about Pelosi and I responded to it. Go back and read it. But since you mention Jackson, he also got US prisoners released from Cuba. And neither Cuba nor Nicaragua had any treaties, agreement, or negotiations with the US that he could intend to defeat. Our only "measure" in Nicaragua was the covert and illegal funding of rebels by Ollie North. And Jackson didn't even contact them.
Exactly. She was accompanied by State Department officials and a republican Senator, she did not derail any negotiations, and other Republican Senators had already set a precedent by doing the same thing. I mentioned this, but you ignored it.
The Logan Act does not prohibit Senators from annoying the President, but from actions to "defeat the measures of the United States". What act, agreement, negotiation, or treaty did Pelosi attempt to defeat? There was none. If annoying the President was all it took, then Cotton and his colleagues would be clearly guilty. But they went far beyond that, specifically addressing the negotiations and stating openly that they could be revoked by the next President.
Do you imagine that this invalidates the Logan Act or that nobody could ever violate it? Come on.
I don't think anybody is going to pursue charges. The letter was an attempt to embarrass the President and derail the negotiation. But it has backfired and embarrassed the Republican party and reinforced the perception that they are rigidly ideological, hyper partisan, and have a poor capacity to govern in a two-party system which requires cooperation, compromise, and collaboration.
