About that Logan Act...

One of the spurious grounds for launching the entire “Russian collusion” assault on the presidency was the notion that former national security adviser Mike Flynn somehow violated the Logan Act as he prepared to take up his duties — a position in which, thanks to James Comey’s crack FBI, the malice of the defeated Democrats, and a thoroughly dishonest media, he lasted only a couple of weeks. So what now do we make of this?

John Kerry’s bid to save one of his most significant accomplishments as secretary of state took him to New York on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, where, more than a year after he left office, he engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy with a top-ranking Iranian official.

He sat down at the United Nations with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss ways of preserving the pact limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It was the second time in about two months that the two had met to strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration, according to a person briefed on the meetings.

With the Iran deal facing its gravest threat since it was signed in 2015, Kerry has been on an aggressive yet stealthy mission to preserve it, using his deep lists of contacts gleaned during his time as the top US diplomat to try to apply pressure on the Trump administration from the outside. President Trump, who has consistently criticized the pact and campaigned in 2016 on scuttling it, faces a May 12 deadline to decide whether to continue abiding by its terms.

Kerry also met last month with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and he’s been on the phone with top European Union official Federica Mogherini, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal the private meetings. Kerry has also met with French President Emmanuel Macron in both Paris and New York, conversing over the details of sanctions and regional nuclear threats in both French and English.

The Logan Act, which dates from 1799, states:

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, 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.

John Kerry, the former secretary of state and former senator, holds no governmental office. He is unauthorized to speak on behalf of the United States. There is no question that he is trying to undermine current American foreign policy by trying to salvage the disgraceful nuclear deal with Iran that he in part negotiated. But this is typical of the modern Democrat party, which views itself as the only rightful political party and always acts accordingly. New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ought to call Kerry into his office and onto the carpet, read him the riot act, and demand that he stand down instead of swanning around the diplomatic world as if he still mattered.

This, by the way, is not the first time John Forbes Kerry has done something like this. The war hero, who won more medals per week (16 weeks) in the field than Audie Murphy, has been working against his country for all his adult life. Maybe it’s time for somebody to finally stop him.