"This leads me to believe that Trump is also in contact with Putin, likely trying to diffuse tensions. If Trump is already handling foreign policy as President Elect, which he clearly is, it’s hard to imagine him NOT being in contact with Putin, given the Biden administration green-lighted firing missiles into Russia, are now trying to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons, and are ultimately trying to bait Putin into a nuclear war.
Trump promised he would prevent WW3 and have the war in Ukraine stopped within 24 hours. The only way he could do that, is by negotiating before he steps in office. He has already spoken to Netanyahu, Orbán, Milei, Rutte, Zelensky, Trudeau, Macron, Duda, Sheinbaum, etc., why not Putin?
I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume Trump and Putin are in contact with one another in some capacity, but for strategic purposes, both parties are keeping their cards close to the vest.
The back channels are open, in hopes of staving off disaster."
- Clandestine
This entire Logan Act discussion is a tempest in a tea pot. Not one person since act was passed in 1799 has every be the bases of a conviction of anyone.
Third, even if the Act is operative and constitutional, one might argue that it does not cover persons with an official or quasi-official status in the U.S. government even if they are not speaking on behalf of the executive branch.
The Act applies to persons who act “without authority of the United States.” That could be read to mean any persons who do not act with the approval of the President; but it could also be read to mean only persons who have no public status at all. For example, members of Congress, acting in pursuance of their legislative duties, might be thought to act with authority of the United States even when they are not acting with approval of the President.
The immediate purpose of the Act in 1799 was to prevent the sort of purely private diplomacy Logan himself engaged in, which is distinct from activities of public officials such as members of Congress.
As with members of Congress, the foregoing factors might counsel hesitancy to apply the Logan Act to the activities of presidential transition teams after a presidential election.
The purpose of the transition is to smooth the way for the new administration, and in the diplomatic field that seems necessarily to involve speaking with foreign governments about matters of dispute. Indeed, this seems a vital activity to reduce uncertainty during the transition.
It is likely that members of transitions teams of other incoming Presidents have routinely discussed pending disputes with foreign officials without raising Logan Act concerns.
The Act’s goal of preventing private diplomacy is far removed from the context of presidential transitions, and there were no quasi-official transition teams at the time the Act was passed. Thus the history and purpose of the Act may suggest that it should not apply to transition teams. Moreover, one might see designated members of a transition team have a sort of official status, having been selected by the President-elect, who in turn has a quasi-official status as a result of the election.
Indeed, the presidential transition process is formally established by law: the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended, provides funding, facilities and access to government services for the transition team. Thus, although the diplomatic activities of the transition team may not have been directly authorized by the existing Executive Branch, like the activities of members of Congress they might be seen as done with “the authority of the United States” due to the transition’s quasi-official status and the longstanding purpose and practice of transitions.