'Treason': Trump may have committed a 'massive crime' in call to foreign leader

21 August 2024

Former President Donald Trump may have called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas that President Joe Biden's administration is currently negotiating. Now, experts are saying Trump may have committed a felony.

Newsweek reported that two anonymous "U.S. sources who were briefed on the call" confirmed to Axios that Trump spoke with Netanyahu. And according to the New Republic and PBS, the former president reportedly urged Netanyahu to reject the deal currently on the table. The Israeli prime minister's office has denied reports that Trump spoke with him, and the Trump campaign hasn't publicly commented on whether the call actually took place.

A private citizen engaging in diplomatic conversations with foreign governments is a violation of the Logan Act of 1799. U.S. code stipulates that violating the act is a felony punishable by fines and up to three years in prison. However, no one has been successfully prosecuted under the Logan Act in the past, and national security expert Steve Vladeck recently called the law "unconstitutionally vague."

Still, news of the reported call has prompted calls for an investigation. Democratic National Committee member David Atkins told Newsweek that if Trump indeed called Netanyahu, it would constitute a "massive crime." Actor Steven Pasquale expressed a similar sentiment in a Wednesday tweet.

"Trump, a convicted felon citizen, no longer in any role as an elected official, conspiring with Netanyahu, to avoid peace, because it might help his political opponent, is pretty balls to the wall treason," he wrote. "Logan act. A crime. We still have laws here don't we?"

Anti-Trump Republican group Lincoln Project also called for the former president to be investigated for the alleged call, tweeting: "Donald Trump is undermining US foreign policy to win an election. He's willing to burn it all down to get what he wants. There's absolutely no line he won't cross."

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn — who served in his role for less than a month before resigning — was prosecuted for similar allegations. Prior to Trump taking the oath of office, Flynn was found to have had conversations with Sergey Kislyak, who at the time was the Russian ambassador to the United States, about sanctions imposed by former President Barack Obama's outgoing administration in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn — who was a three-star general prior who served in the Obama administration's Defense Intelligence Agency before joining the Trump White House — ultimately pleaded guilty to making false statements to investigators about his conversations with Kislyak. Trump would later pardon him during his lame-duck period after losing the 2020 election.

The Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations are still ongoing. According to Axios, there are an estimated 115 hostages still in Hamas' custody. The Gaza health ministry reports that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its war on Gaza following Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack.

Click here to read Newsweek's report in full.

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