It wasn’t that long ago that I pointed out Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had committed a felony when she went to Syria and met with its leaders in a foreign-relations capacity without authorization from the president. The so-called Logan Act (USC Title 18, Part I, Chapter 45, §953), passed in 1799, prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in foreign relations without the ‘authority of the United States’ (and the executive, not Congress, is granted Constitutional responsibility for foreign affairs).
Now, former President Jimmy Carter (D) has committed a similar act. Again, nobody seems to care.
Carter, against instructions from the Bush administration, traveled to the middle-east and held a meeting with the leaders of Hamas. Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization that holds de-facto control of the Gaza Strip and legislative control of the entire Palestinian National Authority. Jimmy Carter might not have noticed (too busy polishing his Nobel Peace Prize?), but we’re in the midst of a War on Terror. An argument could easily be made that by meeting with Hamas leadership, Carter not only violated the Logan Act but also committed treason. A former U.S. president meeting with a known terrorist leader grants that terrorist leader legitimacy. If giving a terrorist leader legitimacy isn’t giving ‘aid and comfort’ to avowed enemies of the United States (U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3), what is?