Just when one believes Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner couldn’t possibly go any lower he proves all of his critics wrong by stooping so low his actions may bring charges of treason.
by Lou Colagiovanni
On Jan. 21 it was announced that Bohener had invited the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address congress. The rationale for the invitation? According to nationaljournal.com it is to allow Netanyahu the opportunity to discuss, “the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life” while he is in America for a conference held by the The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
It is surely a mere coincidence this action by Bohener comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s sixth State of the Union address where Obama vowed to veto any new legislation against Iran brought forth by the new Republican majority.
While this may seem to be par for the course of political maneuvering Boehner’s invitation very well may have violated archaic Federal law, and certainly has violated hundreds of years of political protocol.
Noted political scholar and American University professor Guy Ziv told Talkingpointsmemo.com, “It’s unprecedented. It’s hitting below the belt. It’s taking partisanship to a whole new level.”
What law may have been broken?
Boehner may be in violation under The Logan Act, which was established back in 1799. The Logan Act makes it a federal crime punishable by prison when Americans without authorization negotiate on behalf of the American government:
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.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
Considering that Republicans are universally in favor of all measures regarding Israel, which implies they are heavily in favor of sanctions against Iran when the Obama administration is not, how could it be logically argued that Bohener is not attempting to ‘to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government’ ?
But wait, there’s more!
Boehner has not yet committed a violation of strict Federal Elections Commission (FEC) law, specifically section 441e, but he very well may even if it is inadvertent.
Section 441e very plainly states:
It shall be unlawful for—
(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—
(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
This possible charge is complicated and yet exceedingly simple. Netanyahu will not be offering Republicans any form of a cash donation, but the law stipulates any contribution of a ‘thing of value‘ is illegal to accept. The most powerful man in Israel giving a speech at the request of Republicans isn’t a ‘thing of value’? The speech won’t generate an unknown value for Republicans in terms of fundraising? Netanyahu’s presence won’t directly impact donations from those who are in favor of the Israel lobby?
Please.
The Republican party has spent several years investigating President Obama, so unless they seek to appear like complete partisan hypocrites it behooves them to investigate the most powerful member of their party for possibly violating the sovereign laws of The United States.
Source: Examiner.com
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About the author
Lou Colagiovanni is a political consultant and the editor-in-chief of Ruthless-Politics.com and the political discussion community, “We Survived Bush. You Will Survive Obama.” He is the National Crime Examiner, a political columnist, and a food critic for Examiner.com. His work has been published on thousands of websites across the Internet, and is regularly featured on television and radio. You may contact Lou at lcolagiovanni@consultant.com
