Kerry goes rogue again, talks with Iran about nuke deal

Since Donald Trump became president, former secretary of state John Kerry has taken it upon himself to undermine the administration's foreign policy by attempting to negotiate with foreign powers on his own.

In May, Kerry met with a high-level Palestinian official, telling him he would promote the Palestinian "peace plan" and that P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas should simply ignore the president of the United States.  The meeting took place shortly after Trump announced moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

Now it's been revealed that Kerry met with Iranian officials to "salvage" the nuclear deal.

At what point does the government arrest Kerry and charge him with violations of the Logan Act – the law that prevents private individuals from negotiating with foreign powers?

Washington Free Beacon:

Former Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed that he has been conducting rogue diplomacy with top Iranian officials to salvage the landmark nuclear deal and push the Islamic Republic to negotiate its contested missile program, according to recent remarks.

Kerry, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt to promote his new book, said that he has met with Iranian Former Minister Javad Zarif – the former secretary's onetime negotiating partner – three or four times in recent months behind the Trump administration's back.

"I think I've seen him three or four times," Kerry said, adding that he has been conducting sensitive diplomacy without the current administration's authorization.  Kerry said he has criticized the current administration in these discussions, chiding it for not pursuing negotiations from Iran, despite the country's fevered rhetoric about the U.S. president.

Kerry's comments are in line with previous reporting on his behind-the-scenes attempts to save the nuclear deal and ensure that Iran continues receiving billions in cash windfalls.  These payments were brought to a halt by the Trump administration when it abandoned the nuclear agreement and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran that have nearly toppled its economy and sparked a popular revolution.

Kerry is not so much a naïve fool as he is a traitorous SOB. 

"What I have done is try to elicit from him [Zarif] what Iran might be willing to do to change the dynamic of the Middle East for the better," Kerry said.  "How does one resolve Yemen, what do you do to try and get peace in Syria?  Those are the things that really are preoccupying him because those are the impediments to Iran's ability to convince people its [sic] ready to embrace something different."

Kerry said he has offered blunt talk to Zarif in order to push the regime to accept restrictions on its foreign interventionism.

"I've been very blunt to Foreign Minister Zarif.  I told him, 'Look, you guys need to recognize the world does not appreciate what's happening with missiles, what's happening with Hezbollah, what's happening with Yemen,'" Kerry recounted.  "You're supporting an ongoing struggle there."

The level of ignorance here is shocking.  One can imagine Zarif looking at Kerry as if he were from another planet.  Iran is not trying to convince anyone of anything, much less that the mullahs are "ready to embrace something different."  They are ready to advance their own interests, which include continuing the civil war in Yemen and helping Bashar Assad win the war in Syria. 

I wonder if Zarif kept a straight face when Kerry was telling him this nonsense.

This is the exact reason the Logan Act was created in the first place: to keep idiots like Kerry from undermining the foreign policy of the elected leader of the United States. 

Admittedly, the act is vague in some ways.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller threatened to charge former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn with Logan Act violations for his calls to foreign officials – including the Russian ambassador – in December 2016.  But Flynn was serving an elected president who would take office shortly afterward. 

Kerry's rogue diplomacy is specifically meant to undermine and undercut official US policy. That policy was created by leaders the American people elected for that task.  Kerry's deliberate efforts to make it harder for the U.S. to carry out that policy – a policy directed at an enemy of the U.S. – borders on treason.

That's not a word I throw around lightly.  But a government that supports the destruction of America and the annihilation of the state of Israel should not be assisted in carrying out that goal by any American, much less a former secretary of state.

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