What is the Logan Act? Trump supporters fume at Obama meeting with Canada’s Carney | indy100

Mark Carney

It was only a few days ago that former president Barack Obama was praised for his humour during an interview with outgoing late night talk show host Stephen Colbert, when the latter joked about how he would perform as Potus.

But now, Obama’s upset the American right after he met with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney this week.

Carney, who was previously governor for the Bank of England, tweeted a video on Saturday (9 May) with the caption: “Welcome back to Canada, President @BarackObama. Thank you for joining us in Toronto for important conversations on how we can build a better and more just future – and empower more people to build with us.”

Conservative commentator Nick Sortor was among those unhappy with the interaction, though, as he fumed: “Obama needs to sit down and figure out his freaking place before his ass ends up in prison for violating the Logan Act.”

Author Buzz Patterson branded it a “text book Logan Act violation”, while staunch Trump loyalist Laura Loomer claimed it was a “coup”.

So what exactly is the Logan Act?

Enacted back in 1799, ‘18 U.S. Code § 953’ states: “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.”

According to the Federalist Society, inspiration for the Act came from one Republican legislator George Logan, who went to France and met with government officials there in “an effort to improve US-French relations” during “the undeclared ‘quasi-war’” between the two nations in 1798.

“U.S. President John Adams and leaders of the Federalist Party in Congress were unhappy with Logan’s independent and unauthorized diplomatic effort, believing that it undermined official U.S. policy toward France.

“In a message to Congress later in 1798, Adams recommended that Congress pass legislation limiting future acts of private diplomacy between the United States and France,” the society says.

However, the Congressional Research Service in 2018 noted only two indictments under the Logan Act have been brought forward by prosecutors, and none of them resulted in a conviction.

And the fury from Trump supporters has since been ridiculed by the president’s critics, with Democrat content creator Harry Sisson writing: “This is what real leadership looks like and they’re furious over it. Stay mad!”:

One X/Twitter user commented: “Funny how maga think president Obama of all people doesn’t understand the Logan Act. He’s a constitutional lawyer and former president — meeting a foreign leader isn’t illegal, and ex-presidents do it all the time”:

And Stephen Bonnell II, known online as Destiny, tweeted in all caps: “Imagine MAGA ever talking about the Logan Act ever”:

The Obama Foundation has been approached by Indy100 for comment.

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