Pelosi and the Logan Act

In light of the recent criticism pervading the Internet with regard to the Washington Post’s coverage of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s recent trip to Syria, I thought I would chime in on a different aspect of this trip that another columnist (not surprisingly, also in the Washington Post) wrote. In Robert Turner’s opinion piece, Illegal Diplomacy, he suggests that Speaker Pelosi may have committed violations of her office under the Logan Act because she went to Syria in direct contravention of her boss’s (the President’s) orders.

Turner’s article appears to be well-written and articulate so I will simply comment on his article without doing any independent research. The way I look at it, it is the exclusive province of the executive branch to ensure that our country speaks in one voice. Because Syria is a country that has been categorized under the “axis of evil” umbrella and one the executive branch has made clear needs to be isolated in order for them to “see” the error of their ways, I cannot help but wonder what purpose Rep. Pelosi served by traveling there, even if it is a routine fact finding mission as she said it was. Fact finding missions are one thing generally because they are, with limits, within the realm of the legislative branch. On the other hand and more to the point, to engage in this mission after the White House expressly asked her not to seems to be an act of disobedience for which our country has laws against.

Particularly if she stepped on the executive’s toes by discussing policy or our strategy in the Middle East, as may be inferred from her own statements, her actions have the dangerous potential of having Syria (or the media) pick up on mixed signals or different voices of our government. Whatever the policy is, it needs to come from either the executive or an appointed official from the executive branch (such as a member of the Cabinet) than anyone else, not from the Speaker of the House. To me, her actions seem to be what the Logan Act protects against – that is, speaking to a foreign government “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.” Maybe this happens all the time and has never been really enforced in the two hundred years it’s been on the books. Then again, when else has such a high-profile non-executive gone on such a public mission?

Rep. Pelosi’s act could be a separation of powers violation in contravention of Article II. Since I am NOT a citizen of California, and Pelosi is NOT a member of the Cabinet or somewhere else in the executive branch, I fail to see how her trip can be truly representative of the people or how it is not a gross overstepping of her powers under the Constitution. If she doesn’t like the executive's policy, we have a system in place to change it. Self-help is not that system. Leaving aside the potential backlash and political consequences that could result for a moment, perhaps someone with standing will convince the Attorney General to do something about it. The Logan Act seems like a good place to start.

Tags: pelosi, logan act, syria trip