GOP nominee Donald Trump is being accused of violating another federal law, this time contacting a foreign official while not in an official government position.
A political action committee called the American Muckrackers PAC is accusing Trump of calling Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, to talk about a ceasefire deal that the American government is trying to negotiate between his country and the terrorist group Hamas.
Media outlets Axios and Reuters both reported that Trump made the alleged call on August 14. They cited two unnamed “U.S. sources who were briefed on the call.”
Earlier this week, Judy Woodruff, a host on PBS, reported about the claim, saying:
“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the PM of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign.”
The offices for both Trump and Netanyahu have denied that the call in question happened. A spokesperson was quote in The Times of Israel as saying:
“Contrary to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak yesterday with former President Donald Trump.”
Last week, Trump held a press conference in New Jersey, during which he denied that he called Netanyahu. He also said the last time the two spoke was when the prime minister visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in late July.
As the former president said:
“I did encourage him to get this over with. You want to get it over with fast. Have victory, get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop.”
Since making those comments earlier this week, Woodruff has issued an apology, saying what she said wasn’t based on any original reporting. She added that she hadn’t even seen follow-up reporting that both Netanyahu and Trump denied the call took place.
As she said:
“This was a mistake, and I apologize for it.”
The problem with the call in question is that if it did happen, it would be likely that Trump violated the Logan Act. That federal law prohibits any unauthorized private citizen from participating in negotiations with any foreign government on behalf of America.
Even though Trump is a former government official, and is running for president, he’s now considered a private citizen.
While the law has been on the books for hundreds of years, only two people have ever been charged with violating it, and neither was ever prosecuted. It’s very unlikely, then, that Trump would be charged, just based on history alone.
Still, American Muckrackers is pushing forward with a request that the U.S. Department of State and Department of Justice conduct an investigation.
The group sent an email that reads:
“Today, we became aware that former President Donald Trump is allegedly violating the Logan Act by negotiating and/or interfering with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu regarding relations between the United STates, Israel and other parties.”
