The Washington Free Beacon dropped an interesting report on Thursday involving former Obama-Biden officials and Iran.
According to a State Department memo obtained via FOAI, “former ambassadors” held a secret, “off the record” meeting with then-Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. That meeting came at the same time the Trump administration was attempting to diminish Iran’s negotiating power with sanctions.
Senior Obama administration officials engaged in a secret meeting with Iran in 2018 as part of an effort to undermine the Trump administration’s diplomatic push to isolate the hardline regime, according to an internal State Department document.
As the Trump administration worked to increase economic pressure on Iran in 2018, a delegation of “U.S. former ambassadors held a secret, “off-the-record” meeting with former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif at his residence in New York City, according to a State Department memo unearthed this week as part of a lawsuit brought to compel the release of this information. The meeting took place around the same time John Kerry was reported to be working behind-the-scenes with Iranian officials to salvage the 2015 nuclear accord.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to the revelation by pointing out how egregious it was for non-government officials to hold backdoor meetings with a terrorist regime in order to knee-cap a sitting president.
“This memo reflects even more than we already knew about former State Department officials continuing on as if they were still in office,” said Pompeo, who is now senior counsel for global affairs at the ACLJ. “Trying, at every turn, to work with the foreign minister for a terrorist regime, Iran, to undermine the very sanctions put in place by America. It’s worse than not knowing when to get off stage. Actively seeking to protect the terrible deal they struck, these former officials—two years after Obama left office—were signaling that Iran should stand firm against America.”
That this was seen as proper shows how completely delusional Democrat officials were regarding Trump. Imagine if Bush officials had done this to the Obama administration. Don’t you think there’d be widespread outrage, proclamations about undermining “democracy,” and non-stop mentions of the Logan Act?
In fact, the Logan Act was a popular point of discussion during the Obama administration, but it was in order to target Republicans for releasing a public letter noting that any agreement with Iran wouldn’t be binding. Months of outrage ensued, including some suggesting GOP senators be arrested. I’m not talking about just fringe outlets either publishing such pieces either.
The Logan Act also made a reprisal during the Trump administration, but it was again to assert that Republicans had violated it. Michael Flynn was famously accused of doing so for shaking a Russian guy’s hand at a conference.
Yet, when it comes to Democrats, the Logan Act simply doesn’t exist. And to be sure, I think it’s a garbage law that wouldn’t pass constitutional muster. Still, the hypocrisy is noteworthy. The law apparently only applies to Republicans, at least as far as outrage goes. If it’s John Kerry, it doesn’t even elicit a mention. We all know the game at this point, and it should be remembered the next time there’s another cycle of hysteria over the Logan Act from the left.
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