Politics
Dem Senator Could Be In Legal Trouble For Meeting With Deported Alleged Gang Member
Several legal analysts and political commentators have noted that Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) may have violated a 1799 law prohibiting unauthorized diplomacy with his recent trip to El Salvador, where the Democrat lawmaker met with a suspected MS-13 gang member who was deported after entering the United States illegally.
The Logan Act — named after former Pennsylvania Senator George Logan — allows criminal penalties for any Americans corresponding with foreign officials “with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.”
It has been U.S. law since 1799, when Logan met with French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand in defiance of then-President John Adams’ diplomatic goals. Logan, in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson, was attempting to end U.S. hostilities with France in what was known as the Quasi War.
Several legal analysts and political commentators have argued that Van Hollen violated the Logan Act with this week’s meeting. WMAL host Vince Coglianese read the Logan Act aloud during Friday’s broadcast and laid out how Van Hollen’s conduct appears to have crossed the necessary threshold.
“The Logan Act says 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 the 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,” Coglianese explained.
The conservative radio host then noted that the same statute was used to prosecute former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who was accused of failing to disclose contacts with Turkish officials.
“General Flynn, the incoming National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, was merely having conversations with foreign diplomats, foreign dignitaries, as the incoming national security advisor. The American people had spoken, they chose President Trump. President Trump chose the people who worked for him, including General Mike Flynn at the time as his national security advisor. So in other words, Mike Flynn wasn’t violating any law. Flynn was working on behalf of the people who just voted for Trump,” Coglianese continued.
“And yet here you have Chris Van Hollen kind of seems open and shut. He’s violating the law. Absolutely, yes.”
Van Hollen meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien who has been described as a “Maryland man” by Democrats. The “Maryland man” needed a translator to communicate with the senator
The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) sent a letter to Senate Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford (R-OK) requesting an investigation of potential ethics violations relating to Van Hollen’s trip, according to a report from the New York Post.
“Mr. Abrego-Garcia is essentially an enemy combatant in the ongoing invasion of the United States by transnational gangs,” AAF President Thomas Jones wrote to the heads of the Senate Ethics Committee and Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). “Despite the overwhelming evidence, Senator Van Hollen decided that he would use Senate funds to fly to El Salvador and advocate for an enemy of the United States,” the letter continued.
It is unclear how much of Van Hollen’s trip was paid for using taxpayer funds. AAF is asking for Thune to instruct the secretary of the Senate to prevent any chamber funds from being used, in addition to an investigation for potential Logan Act violations.
“Van Hollen was in El Salvador meeting with leaders of the Salvadorian government to attempt to secure Mr. Garcia’s release,” Jones wrote in the letter. “It is hard to imagine a more hostile intrusion into U.S. foreign policy than attempting to smuggle a foreign enemy combatant into the United States.”
