On the GOP Letter to Iran.

Say I were to publish the following as an open letter:

Dear Government of Iran,

Here’s the United States Constitution: http://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm.

Please pay special attention to Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 (click here; it’s the paragraph starting “He shall have power…”), which is about treaty stuff. Also have a look at Amendment XXII (click here), which is about how long Presidents serve. Note there’s no mention of term limits on congressmen.

Then, click here for a Wikipedia article about the Treaty Clause, with some explanations about how treaties are different from executive agreements. And then click here for some stuff about filibusters in the Senate.

Finally, President Obama has to leave office no later than noon, January 20th, 2017. At 12:01 PM that day, you could be dealing with President Hillary, or Walker, or Warren, or Rubio, or O’Malley, or Jeb, or God-Knows-Who. Two-thirds of the current Senate will still be around, though.

Sincerely,

Vincent D. Viscariello

Set aside for a moment the wisdom of typing such a letter and publishing it in a forum that has as many as thirty-seven viewers per day, worldwide.

My question is: Did I just violate the Logan Act or otherwise commit treason?

…

Congressmen, Supreme Court justices, and the President are welcome to follow the above links as well.

4 thoughts on “On the GOP Letter to Iran.”

  1. I guess it really only comes down to proving intent and tying it to a dispute/controversy/ or an attempted defeat of a measure of the US. Personally, I do not believe providing what is already readily available information to be a violation of the Logan act…but then again, seeing how the commerce clause has been extended to cover just about everything that goes on in this country..I’m sure Logan could be stretched too.

    “…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…”

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