Did Nancy Pelosi Commit a felony?

Question

Eagle Bridge, NY — April 9, 2007 — Last week Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Damascus to visit with Syrian President Bashar Assad. While there, she delivered a message that “Israel was ready to engage in peace talks” with Syria. The Israeli prime minister denied he had given Ms. Pelosi any such message. The United States has severed high-level contacts with Syria, and the White House strongly critized Pelosi’s visit.

The Assad family gained power during a coup in 1971. President Assad is suspected of supporting the terrorist groups Hazbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, and is widely credited with the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005. The U.N. is considering charges against Assad. On her visit, Speaker Pelosi declared: “We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace.”

Any American citizen, including members of Congress, may meet with foreign governments on fact finding missions. However, the Logan Act, passed in 1799, forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments under penalty of fines and up to three years in prison. The Supreme Court has stated: “Into the field of negotiation the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it.” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos declared: “We have an alternative Democratic foreign policy” and “this is only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria.”

Ummmmmm. Yeah. To ALL those who assume that my mind is made up-NICE:) Thanks for the help in showing me which "side" is able to remain calm and levelheaded.

BTW. I really LOVED the "Josh" post. The assumption that EVERYONE who has commited a felony has gotten theirs is hilarious! Well, I guess all of the felons must be in prison, and those of us on the outside...well, that just PROVES our innocence! LOL!

Condoleezza is the correct spelling, BTW. And, shouldn't this be a Yes/No question? Does it make it not a felony if others committed a felony too? Everyone else is doing it, so why can't we? LOL!

Answer 1

Tyranny is defined best as when those who enforce the law selectivly enfore and apply the law.

We live under tyranny, and have done so under Democrat and Republican governments. Not arresting Pelosi is just more evidence of the tyranny of Washington.

Answer 2

No.

Dopes like you are being fooled by Drudge and the RNC political shop.

From the start of this sub-controversy over Speaker Pelosi's comments in Damascus I've suspected a tampering hand from the White House.

You know the details. Pelosi said she had conveyed a message of peace from the Israelis to the Syrians. And then Prime Minister Olmert's office issued a statement appearing to contradict what Pelosi said. The Post OpEd page, the organ of jejune establishmentarianism and neo-Blimpism, called Pelosi's claim a 'pratfall'. With admirable diligence, the Post OpEd writers took Olmert's Office's statement at face value and then embellished it ...

"The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message ... Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda."


But I've never thought it was that simple since before Pelosi ever made her statement, the Israeli press was reporting that Olmert had entrusted Pelosi with such a message. As Ha'aretz highly respected diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote the day before Pelosi's arrival in Damascus ...

"The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus today, and will deliver a message of calm from Israel.
"We hope the message will be understood," political sources in Israel said yesterday. "The question is whether Assad is looking for an excuse ... so that he can carry out an attack against Israel in the summer, or whether this is a mistaken assessment."

Pelosi visited Israel yesterday and told her Israeli interlocutors that the country must speak with Assad and that the door should not be closed to Syria, even though she is aware that Syria supports terrorism and continued cooperation with Iran."


If you read Benn's article you'll see that Olmert's message was part of an effort to head off a possible confrontation this summer tied to Arab fears of an American strike against Iran. (It's a complicated issue, which can find out more about by reading Benn's article.)

Now, who else says this? Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) is the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a Holocaust survivor and very close to AIPAC. He was with Pelosi in the key meetings in Jerusalem and Damascus and he says "The speaker conveyed precisely what the prime minister and the acting president asked."

So what happened? Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is another person who follows these issues closely and knows a lot about them -- that is to say, he doesn't approach these issues through the prism of reading Drudge or what the Vice President said on the Rush Limbaugh show. In any case, Kampeas takes a look at the story. It's a lengthy piece with a lot of important detail. But let me excerpt this section which touches on the issue of, again, what happened?

"If that was the case, why did Olmert need to make a clarification, as Israelis were not speaking on the record. Lantos suggested there was pressure from the White House.
"It's obvious the White House is desperate to find some phony criticism of the speaker's trip, even though it was a bipartisan trip," said Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who is considered the Democrat closest to the pro-Israel lobby. "I have nothing but contempt and disdain for the attempt to undermine this trip."

The White House had no comment on the allegations by Lantos that it pressured Olmert to offer a clarification.

Such backdoor statecraft between the White House and Olmert would not be unprecedented.

Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked Olmert into a 48-hour cease-fire during the war with Hezbollah to allow humanitarian relief, but within hours Israeli planes were bombing again, to Rice's surprise and anger. Olmert had received a call, apparently from Cheney's office, telling him to ignore Rice."


So the last few days, the RNC political shop and Drudge has been leading dopes like you around by the nose. But let's hear a bit more about this. The message the Israelis sent to Damascus was intended to convince the Syrians that the Israelis were not planning to attack the Syrians in concert with an American attack on Iran. There was concern in Israel that this might lead to a preemptive Syrian attack. A message like that from Israel to Syria might be very unwelcome to some people in the White House. Did the White House pressure Olmert? If there was no message, why was the existence of the message being discussed by Israeli officials before Pelosi went to Damascus? Will the White House deny pressuring Olmert? And did any of this occur to the folks who write the Post's editorials?

So what's the story? Maybe this whole episode deserves some real reporting.

Answer 3

No. There is ample precedent for Pelosi’s trip and actions.

During the Clinton administration, Speaker Gingrich visited the Middle East and China. Speaker Hastert visited Colombia. Both Speakers talked to officials in the respective areas and criticized Clinton’s policies.

Gingrich, in China in 1997, delivered a message regarding Taiwan that was not in line with Clinton policy. In 1998, in the Middle East, Gingrich lambasted Clinton’s policies both before and during his trip.

In 1997, Hastert told the Colombian military officials that they could bypass the President and speak directly to Congress.

Pelosi’s actions seem rather mild in comparison to those of Speakers Gingrich and Hastert. No one has ever been prosecuted and convicted under the Logan Act.

Answer 4

So under this Logan Act of 1799 which seems to be your reasoning for this, how is she an "unauthorized citizen?" Do everyone a favor, stop picking sides like you work there and think for yourself.

The question should be why are we still in Iraq the people responsible for 9/11? Oh wait...(place excuse here)

The question should be when are we going to get Osama? Oh wait...(place excuse here)

The question is when are we going to house the thousands that lost their homes in New Orleans? Hmm...(place excuse here)

We as a nation have so many interior areas that need our attention that this President, who has shown such fantastic time management and leadership skills, has ignored immensely. Why does Canada have a nation wide health care system? Because their leaders of past as well as those today made it a priority.

You seem to be into research. Look into the President's track record as a business man and how well he did with being "handed" the Texas Rangers? The answer is one word that starts with Bank and ends with ruptcy...

He is the guy who called himself, The Decider in public.

THE DECIDER people!!

Answer 5

Condoliza rice has embarked in negotiation with Israel, what is wrong if any official does it with any other Nation, if I remember Rumsfeld was a close friend of Saddam during the Iran Iraq war.Miss Pelosi seem to have done more then condoliza since condi got on board I do not remember condi signing any treaty or negotiation as of now!!!. The most important thing Miss Pelosi got to do is cut the moniesfor the war and suspend money support for the armies unless is for deploying them back home

Answer 6

Please clarify what constitutes a legal in Speaker Pelosi's holiday. How is it that Many different abode audio device (Republicans too) can do precisely the comparable ingredient and not a be conscious is declared yet a woman Speaker so properly enjoyed by skill of the the perfect option does it and now that's a legal? good grief what hypocrites they are. in step with danger the three Republicans that observed her on the holiday might desire to be indited to boot. they might have committed the comparable crime. because whilst does the President of the U. S. a dictator (i understand this one and his followers choose him to be one) to the factor of telling the chief of one of the chambers of the Legislative branch the place they are in a position to and can't pass. talk approximately lies. there has been little or no reality popping out of the administration. in certainty Bush does not understand the certainty if it jumped up and bit him interior the tush. listed here are a pair of rates i think you will know as being from a pair of your obtrusive heroes. It suits this administration to a tee. Hermann Goering, 2d to blame of the 0.33 Reich and key founding father of the Nazi occasion, suggested; “Voice or no voice, the human beings can consistently be further to the bidding of the leaders. that's ordinary. All you may desire to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for loss of patriotism, and exposing the country to bigger threat”. "in case you tell a lie great adequate and save repeating it, human beings will at last come to have faith it. The lie may be maintained purely for such time as a results of fact the State can shelter the human beings from the political, financial, and/or militia effects of the lie. It hence turns into extremely significant for the state to apply all of its powers to repress dissent, for as a count of certainty the mortal enemy of the lie, and hence by skill of extension, as a count of certainty the perfect enemy of the State." __Josef Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda

Answer 7

For the hundredth time, since people cannot get it through their thick skulls:

NO, it was not a felony. When you commit a felony you go to trial, are arraigned, and end up in prison.

None of that has happened, and if it *could* happen, Republicans would have been losing their collective minds and she would have been prosecutred.


And since you think she committed a felony, do you think the 3 Republicans that were there during the exact same time committed a felony?

Or just Democrats..

(give it a rest already)

Answer 8

I believe our government should charge her with violating the Logan Act! She is doing much more harm than good by undermining our foreign policy and she made herself look quite petty in the process.

Answer 9

It sounds like Olmert is engaging in some CYA activity.


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879247562&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Answer 10

Both sides are guilty of treasonous acts, so why are you only calling out Democrats? Jail the politicians and elect representatives that will actually listen to their constituents, not just the ones with large bank accounts..