OPINION | Ken Pittman: Former Secretary of State John Kerry Should Be Arrested

The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized persons with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States.

Former Massachusetts Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry appears to have approached the fence of violating the Logan Act. Kerry, as is being reported by the Boston Globe, has been going behind the State Department and President Trump's back to try to salvage the deal he felt was a good one with respect to the Iranian's nuclear power facilities.

"John Kerry’s bid to save one of his most significant accomplishments as secretary of state took him to New York on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, where, more than a year after he left office, he engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy with a top-ranking Iranian official.

He sat down at the United Nations with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss ways of preserving the pact limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It was the second time in about two months that the two had met to strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration, according to a person briefed on the meetings." - Matt Viser, Boston Globe, May 4, 2018

This is not the first time in recent days that the former Secretary undermined the President of the United States. He called President Bush a liar, murderer and said he intentionally sent American soldiers to die for oil in Iraq.

More recently, in fact, with only two days to go in the Obama Administration, according to the Jerusalem Post, Secretary Kerry met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas:

"During the conversation, according to the report, Kerry asked Agha to convey a message to Abbas and ask him to “hold on and be strong.” Tell him, he told Agha, “that he should stay strong in his spirit and play for time, that he will not break and will not yield to President [Donald] Trump’s demands.”

According to Kerry, Trump will not remain in office for a long time. It was reported that Kerry said that within a year there was a good chance that Trump would not be in the White House.

Kerry offered his help to the Palestinians in an effort to advance the peace process and recommended that Abbas present his own peace plan. “Maybe it is time for the Palestinians to define their peace principles and present a positive plan,” Kerry suggested.

He promised to use all his contacts and all his abilities to get support for such a plan.

He asked Abbas, through Agha, not to attack the US or the Trump administration, but to concentrate on personal attacks on Trump himself, whom Kerry says is solely and directly responsible for the situation." 

Senator Kerry, your services are no longer needed or wanted. In fact, in this White House and State Department, you, sir, are persona non grata. You do not speak for this nation, sir. You spoke for the last administration, that caused tens of thousands of deaths with your helping the Obama policies. The reckless fetal positioning with the American flag to this apocalyptic rogue regime toying with nuclear power and yes, nuclear weapons goals, is a fool's errand, and one of which Kerry seems quite proud.

Were I President Trump, I would have the Justice Department, if not the NSA, begin surveillance on Senator Kerry. The rules should apply to John Forbes Kerry for once. He's been stabbing the backs of the presidents for five decades now.

Kerry has been at this going on a half-century now. Shadow diplomacy with the enemy is old hat. As a younger man, Kerry met in secrecy with the enemies of North Vietnam. When pressed about his mission, Kerry said he met with officials on both sides of the war, North and South Vietnam delegations, while in France in 1970.

But who he had a meeting with in truth was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam which was the government of the North Vietnamese communists, and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PVR), which was an arm of the North Vietnamese government that included the Vietcong...while they were still an enemy combatant government of the United States! No delegation from the pro-western South was present. At that point in time, Kerry was still a U.S. Naval Reservist, not a civilian.

Does anyone think Kerry was dumb enough not to know that the only ones he met up with were the enemy, or that he was breaking the law?

It may be the perfect time to lock up old "Live Shot" Kerry.

It's been a long time coming.

Ken Pittman is the host of The Ken Pittman Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at talkerkenpittman@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @RadioKenPittman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.