During his “Let Me Finish” segment on Monday’s broadcast MSNBC’s “Hardball,” host Chris Matthews charged that Senate Republicans that signed on to a letter to the Iran leadership warning that any agreement that may be made with President Barack Obama pertaining to nuclear weapons may not be honored by a future president, especially if the agreement doesn’t get congressional approval.
“Let me finish tonight with the language of the Logan Act which Congress passed and the president signed in the earliest days of our republic,” Matthews said. “’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.’ I wonder if the senators who rushed to sign that letter to the Iranian leaders had read this document which is known as the Logan Act. It basically says that only the government of the United States is allowed under the law to negotiate with foreign governments. Again, I wonder if these 47 senators gave thought to what they were doing here. Then again as I said in the beginning of this show, they did know exactly what they were doing. They were trying to undermine the work of an American president by first of all disrespecting him, even if they don’t get charged and in prison for it. What they’ve done here is craven.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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