Trump-Putin Phone Calls Bring the Logan Act out of Moth Balls by Raising the Question: Did the Calls Violate a Long-standing, but Seldom Used, Federal Statute?

Trump and Putin: Phone buddies (Reuters)

Donald Trump's phone calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin not only became a major international news story, they might also have been illegal, according to a  report at Axios. Under the headline "Logan Act: Why it could be illegal for Trump to call Putin," Ivana Saric writes:

Recent revelations about former President Trump's personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin have raised questions about whether Trump violated U.S. law.

Why it matters: With just weeks to go before the presidential election, the reports from journalist Bob Woodward's new book "War" have raised fresh questions about Trump's ties with leaders of one of the U.S.' greatest geopolitical adversaries.

Driving the news: News of Trump's reported phone calls with Putin have caught the attention of his opponents as a possible violation of the Logan Act, which restricts private citizens from engaging in diplomatic affairs with U.S. rivals.

• A spokesperson for the Harris campaign told Axios Tuesday that Trump's engagement in diplomacy outside of the government could be illegal under the Logan Act — a view echoed by former Biden White House advisor Susan Rice on X Wednesday.
• "Private citizens are forbidden under the federal Logan Act from engaging in foreign policy undercutting America. So why did private citizen Donald Trump have at least SEVEN one on one phone calls with Putin since he left the White House (in which time Putin invaded Ukraine)?" the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, wrote on X Tuesday.

How exactly did we reach this point? Many questions still hang over the story, but Saric brings some clarity to the picture: 

Woodward reported that — according to an unidentified Trump aide — the former president and Putin have had "as many as seven" personal conversations since Trump left office in 2021.

• "War" also revealed that Trump sent Putin COVID-19 testing machines during the early days of the pandemic for the Russian leader's personal use.

What they're saying: Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios Wednesday that reports of phone calls between Trump and Putin were "unequivocally false" and "completely fabricated."

• The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed Woodward's claim that Trump had indeed sent Putin COVID-19 testing equipment but denied the report about the two men's phone calls.

Many Americans probably have not heard of the Logan Act, but they will be hearing a lot about it in the coming days. While president, Trump himself did a lot to bring the obscure statute into the news. Talk about irony. Saric writes:

The Logan Act prohibits private U.S. citizens from engaging without authorization in diplomacy with foreign governments that are in dispute with the U.S.

• It "requires an intent to influence the conduct of a foreign government in relation to a dispute" with the U.S. or to "defeat a U.S. policy," Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University, told Axios Wednesday.
• Violations of the law could be met with a fine or up to three years in prison.

State of play: Though the Logan Act was enacted in 1799, the law has rarely been enforced, according to a 2018 report from the Congressional Research Service.

• There have been only two prosecutions under the Logan Act — in 1803 and 1853 — neither of which resulted in a conviction.
• The act has rarely been used because of questions over its constitutionality, including whether it violates free speech protections, per the report.
• This is in part because the law was enacted at a time when the First Amendment was interpreted differently than it is today, and the law was simply never repealed, according to Ku. The big question of the moment: Did Trump violate he Logan Act? Saric dives into some murky water seeking an answer:

• Whether Trump's reported phone calls with Putin violate the Logan Act depends on the content of their conversations, which remains unknown, according to Ku.

• "They could just be talking about the weather, in which case there's no violation ... if they're talking about a plan to undermine U.S. policy toward Russia, then that would violate the Logan Act," Ku said.

Between the lines: However, criticism of the Logan Act as possibly violating the First Amendment means that even if the conversations did violate the law, the former president would still have a "pretty good First Amendment defense if it ever got to court," Ku added.

How has the Logan Act been used?

Although the Logan Act may not be a frequently used legal tool, it's often bandied by politicians and other political groups to take aim at their opponents. That sounds exactly like the kind of annoying claim Trump would like to toss toward a rival. He might find that it's not quite so pleasant to be on the receiving end of the Logan Act, especially with the 2024 presidential election less than one month away. Talk about karma. Scaric writes:

• Trump accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating the Logan Act in 2019 for allegedly participating in negotiations with Iran. Kerry denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
• In 2020, Trump suggested that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) had violated the Logan Act by meeting with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
• Murphy denied the charge, writing on X that as the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations' subcommittee on the Middle East, "it's literally my job to meet with regional leaders."

The big picture: The Logan Act has remained a "useful way for people to accuse each other of undermining U.S. foreign policy" because its broad language makes it widely applicable to different correspondences with a foreign government, Ku said.

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• Accusing political opponents of violating related laws, like the Espionage Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act, would be much harder to prove, Ku added.

Has Trump been accused of violating the Logan Act before?

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Trump himself was accused of violating the Logan Act in March by hosting a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at Mar-a-Lago.

• Orbán claimed Trump promised him that he would cut off military aid to Ukraine — a direct contradiction of current U.S. policy of support for Ukraine.

The bottom line: While Trump's actions might be "unseemly," the history of the Logan Act and the fact that it's never been legally tested mean that it's not a "meaningful law" that's "likely to ever be used, against Trump or anyone else," Ku said.