Trump’s reported calls with Putin appear illegal

Former White House adviser and United Nations ambassador Susan Rice called out former President Trump over a report that he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin at least seven times since leaving office, suggesting such calls would violate the Logan Act.

The law, which makes it illegal for American citizens to negotiate with foreign governments in dispute with the United States without prior approval, was introduced in 1799 and is meant to prevent unauthorized diplomacy from undermining the current administration’s position.

Trump’s adherence to the Logan Act was raised after a new book by journalist Bob Woodward alleged the current Republican nominee has repeatedly spoken with Putin since leaving office in early 2021.

Trump’s campaign has broadly denied claims made in the book. However, Trump has often boasted about his close relationship with Putin and has pressured Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“This would seem to be a violation of the Logan Act. Exactly what Trump falsely accused John Kerry of. Another apparent Trump crime,” Rice wrote Tuesday on the social platform

Rice was referring to Trump’s public pressure campaign to pursue Kerry, a former secretary of state, over private meetings with Iranian officials during the Trump administration to urge Tehran to stay in the Iran Nuclear Deal, brokered by the Obama administration. Trump later pulled the US from the agreement.

“John Kerry violated the Logan Act,” Trump said during a White House press briefing in May 2019. “He’s talking to Iran and has many meetings and many phone calls and he’s telling them what to do. That is (a) total violation of the Logan Act.”

Kerry was never charged with breaking that law, and he briefed top State Department officials on his discussions.

This is not the first time it’s been suggested that Trump has run afoul of the Logan Act.

In March and then again in July, the former president met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at his Mar-a-Lago resort, ostensibly to discuss a vision for peace in Ukraine.

Hungary has frustrated the Biden administration for favoring the Kremlin’s interests. Earlier this week NATO ally said it will block a final deal on a $50 billion Group of Seven loan to Ukraine until after the US presidential election. Orbán has also made it no secret that he favors Trump.

However, the Logan Act is rarely enforced. Only two people have ever been charged under it, one in 1803 and the other in 1852. Neither individual was prosecuted.

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