SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT THE LOGAN ACT

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.

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.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

1 Stat. 613, January 30, 1799, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004).

 

 

Anyone who has a blog discussing foreign affairs at all, whatever their actual intent happens to be, and whether they get or publish comments or not, might be claimed to have violated this provision:

 

"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..."

Any citizen who has a blog, facebook page, or does twitter seems to me liable to prosecution under this law as it is written, if they discuss anything involving foreign policy, whatever that is deemed to be, whether they are in public or private work, or not employed at all.

Of course the law was trotted out against Flynn, but that is a liberal media blunder in my judgment.

The media in general, it seems to me, including the liberal media who have invoked it, are particularly vulnerable to this law.

Professor Kaiser's articles in Time could even be claimed to violate the law, as well as his blog. My blog too.

If Trump thinks of using it this way, it could gain traction.

He has just been hit by it. Why not hit back?