So, remember when President Trump accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating the Logan Act for speaking with the Iranians? Yeah, CNN did a fact check piece. It’s funny because when Republican Senators wrote a letterto the leaders of Iran warning them that if a Democrat fails to succeed the Obama presidency in 2016, a Republican president could nuke this shoddy Iran Deal. Oh, the Logan Act allegations were flying from liberals at the time. It was an embarrassment. Now, Trump is playing by their rules (via Politico):
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that John Kerry "should be prosecuted" for allegedly violating the Logan Act through his conversations with Iran, escalating a feud between his administration and the former secretary of State.
"John Kerry violated the Logan Act," Trump said during a White House press availability. "He's talking to Iran and has has [sic] many meetings and many phone calls and he's telling them what to do. That is total violation of the Logan Act."
In response, Kerry spokesman Matt Summers told POLITICO that "everything President Trump said today is simply wrong, end of story."
"[Trump's] wrong about the facts, wrong about the law, and sadly he's been wrong about how to use diplomacy to keep America safe," the Kerry spokesman said. "Secretary Kerry helped negotiate a nuclear agreement that worked to solve an intractable problem. The world supported it then and supports it still. We'd hope the president would focus on solving foreign policy problems for America instead of attacking his predecessors for theater."
Well, as it turns out, former Obama officials have been talking to Iran, which they said was “normal.” You see, we have another round of ‘liberals can do it, but conservatives can’t,’ a game that this administration doesn’t care about; a game that we’re throwing back in the faces of liberals. The hell we can’t accuse you of treason; we’re playing by your rules, liberals. And if Republicans had been doing this if the roles were reversed, you bet MSNBC, CNN, and the entire liberal media establishment would be calling for trials. Also, this isn't the first time Kerry has spoken with the Iranians after he left the State Department (via Daily Beast):
Sounds like a Logan Act violation! Commence the wiretaps. https://t.co/CQg4vsckib
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) May 31, 2019
Former Obama officials have been working with Iran and friends on the Hill to isolate the Trump admin. Their most recent contacts were a couple weeks ago. They told @thedailybeast that them secretly talking to Iran is "normal" https://t.co/OcenW1KuMq
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) May 31, 2019
As the Trump administration sent warplanes and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, a small group of former Obama administration officials reached out to their contacts in the Iranian government, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Their message to Iran: Don’t take Trump’s bait. Stay calm.
[…]
…lawmakers on Capitol Hill pressed for details about the threat, at times turning to former Obama officials for answers.
Three Obama officials who worked closely on the Iran nuclear deal, one of whom is still in touch with Iranian government officials, traveled to Capitol Hill to brief congressional Democrats about the situation. Those former officials said would not say if they passed information from Iranian government officials to members of Congress. Rather, they said they focused on educating members about their experience working with Iranian leaders and how Tehran reacts to economic pressure.
Several former officials who spoke to The Daily Beast stressed that their discussions with their Iranian contacts were “normal.” But in other corners, these kind of talks cause alarm. A Republican congressional aide who works on Iran policy told The Daily Beast the conversations may run counter to the Trump administration’s messaging to the Iranian government.
[…]
One former official who worked on the Obama administration’s Iran policy told The Daily Beast he spoke with Iranian government officials as recently as a few weeks ago, as tensions were cresting. His message, he said, was simple: The Trump administration can escalate things plenty all by itself; the Iranians shouldn’t take the bait, fuel the fire, and move things from bad to worse by, for example, pulling completely out of the nuclear deal.
Another former senior Obama administration official, who said he was not himself aware of the conversations, called the talks “neither unusual nor particularly consequential.”
“Exaggerating their significance lends undue credence to those cynically blaming others for their own failing approach,” the ex-official said.
Separately, some former Obama officials are trying to keep the roots of the Iran nuclear deal alive by taking the pulse of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to gauge whether they are in favor of restarting talks in the future. They are also speaking to officials in Europe who are concerned about their long-term ability to trade with Iran and stick to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, all while attempting to avoid U.S. sanctions.
Yeah, that’s a lot more than just sending a letter to Iran as the Senate Republican Caucus did at the outset of the Iran nuclear deal negotiations. And liberal America was screaming treason…over a simple letter that wasn’t inaccurate. So, lefties, when you get slapped with Logan Act theater, first, shut your face and second we all know full well this goes beyond what Republican senators did under the Obama administration.
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