Fact check: Is John Kerry in violation of the Logan Act?
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating the Logan Act by taking part in negotiations with Iran's government, which in recent days has announced it will reduce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal that the Trump administration pulled out of last year.
Kerry promptly denied the President's accusation.
During an event focused on medical billing at the White House, Trump alleged that Kerry, who served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, is undermining the current administration's efforts with Iran by participating in calls and meetings with the Iranian government.
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Last year, before the administration decided to pull out of the deal, the Boston Globe reported that Kerry was taking part in meetings with big players in Iran, meetings which were promptly criticized by the Trump administration. However, last October, Kerry told reporters that he had not met with Iranians since the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and had seen Iran's foreign minister at a few international security meetings.
Trump alleged that Kerry "is talking to Iran and has been. He's had many meetings and phone calls and he's telling him what to do."
But Matt Summers, a spokesman for Kerry, said in a statement that Trump's claim "is simply wrong, end of story."
"He's wrong about the facts, wrong about the law, and sadly he's been wrong about how to use diplomacy to keep America safe. Secretary Kerry helped negotiate a nuclear agreement that worked to solve an intractable problem. The world supported it then and supports it still. We'd hope the President would focus on solving foreign policy problems for America instead of attacking his predecessors for theater," Summers said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/fact-check-is-john-kerry-in-violation-of-the-logan-act/ar-AAB97HP?li=BBnb7Kz
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