Any citizen of the United States
In short his trip was essentially a very public vacation. One in which Kerry seems to have run afoul of the Logan Act, which reads:
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.
The Logan Act became necessary when, in 1798, a friend and political supporter of Thomas Jefferson named George Logan spirited off to Paris on his own authority to secure an accord with France during a time of great tension between the U.S. and that country. Logan later served a single term in the United States Senate.
No one is suggesting that John Kerry will be the subject of a criminal probe or a congressional hearing. Many of us have long ago given up hope that obstreperous liberals in Congress who deliberately weaken our country's position in a time of war will face appropriate repercussions. But it would be nice if John Kerry would stop visiting ?“foreign leaders?” for a while, at least until the war in Iraq is over. Either that, or stop making up stories.
By wherever he may be, who, without