Through the Tuesday broadcast network morning and evening newscasts, not a single second had been spent on news first uncovered Monday by our friend Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist that Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) “and other Democratic senators had a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference last week.”
On Tuesday, Murphy tweeted confirmation that it did happen (but only after refusing to answer media inquiries for hours), furthering rendering the broadcast network silence even more ridiculous. For an industry so heavily pro-Iran, one would have thought that this have been music to the ears of ABC, CBS, and NBC.
“I met [with] the Iranian Foreign [sic] Minister in Munich. It’s dangerous not to talk to adversaries, esp amidst a cycle of escalation,” Murphy stated in a Twitter thread, linking to a Medium.com post elaborating on his trip.
Hemingway noted that Murphy had condemned this kind of behavior when done by “Trump officials” like Michael Flynn “as they prepared for Trump’s administration.”
Of course, Murphy had no such problem with his secret meeting or those “done by Democrats such as former Secretary of State John Kerry.”
And as one would recall, the left had spent years being infatuated with casually invoking the Logan Act as having been broken by Flynn or even Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) for his Iran deal letter. In Cotton’s case, he was savaged by the liberal media and their congressional allies. National Review’s David Harsanyi took a deeper dive into that angle of the story.
As usual, the Fox News Channel’s Special Report covered what should undeniably be a news story and, well, made it a story with a two-minute-and-14-second segment (instead of ignoring it).
“There are questions tonight about whether a meeting between a Democrat U.S. Senator and Iran’s foreign minister may have broken the law or misrepresented American foreign policy,” anchor Bret Baier stated, leading into State Department correspondent Rich Edson’s report.
After alluding to this being another invocation of the Logan Act and playing a clip of President Trump commenting on the meeting, Edson cited reaction from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and more of Murphy’s explanation (click “expand”):
Mike Pompeo added that he hopes U.S. Senators meeting with the Iranian foreign minister “reinforc[ed] America's foreign policy and not their own.” In a post on Medium, Senator Murphy wrote, “I cannot conduct of diplomacy on behalf of the whole of the U.S. government and I don't pretend to be in a position to do so. But if Trump isn't going to talk to Iran, then someone should. A lack of dialogue leaves nations guessing about their enemy's intentions and guessing wrong could lead to catastrophic stakes.”
Murphy says he urged Zarif to control Iranian proxies, release American hostages held in Iran, and end a blockade in Yemen of humanitarian aid by Iran-backed rebels. Murphy notes that other members of Congress have met with Zarif. An aide to the senator says he notified the U.S. Embassy in Germany he was pursuing a meeting with Zarif there.
To see the relevant transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on February 18, click “expand.”
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
February 18, 2020
6:13 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Adversarial Diplomacy; Senator Defends Meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister]
BRET BAIER: There are questions tonight about whether a meeting between a Democrat U.S. Senator and Iran’s foreign minister may have broken the law or misrepresented American foreign policy. State Department correspondent Rich Edson is here with details. Good evening, Rich.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Lines of Communication; Murphy Meets with Iranian Foreign Minister]
RICH EDSON: Good evening, Bret and President Trump is among those asking whether Senator Chris Murphy violated a rarely used 19th century federal law by meeting with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif in Germany. The Logan Act prohibits unauthorized Americans from conducting diplomacy on behalf of the United States.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I saw that there’s a Senator Murphy met with the Iranians. Is that a fact? I just saw that on the way over. Is there anything that I should know? Because that sounds like, to me, to be a violation of the Logan Act.
EDSON: Mike Pompeo added that he hopes U.S. Senators meeting with the Iranian foreign minister “reinforc[ed] America's foreign policy and not their own.” In a post on Medium, Senator Murphy wrote, “I cannot conduct of diplomacy on behalf of the whole of the U.S. government and I don't pretend to be in a position to do so. But if Trump isn't going to talk to Iran, then someone should. A lack of dialogue leaves nations guessing about their enemy's intentions and guessing wrong could lead to catastrophic stakes.”
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Dialogue Coach; Murphy Says U.S. Should Communicate with Iran]
Murphy says he urged Zarif to control Iranian proxies, release American hostages held in Iran, and end a blockade in Yemen of humanitarian aid by Iran-backed rebels. Murphy notes that other members of Congress have met with Zarif.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Foreign Relations; Murphy Previously Spoke with Ukrainian President]
An aide to the senator says he notified the U.S. Embassy in Germany he was pursuing a meeting with Zarif there. In September, Murphy traveled to Ukraine, where he says he told Ukraine’s president to resist efforts by Rudy Giuliani to interfere in American politics. President Trump has also accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating the Logan act for meeting with Iranian officials after he left office.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Past and Present; Lawmakers Face Accusations of Logan Act Violations]
In 2015, months before the U.S. agreed to the nuclear deal, 47 Republican senators sent a letter to Iran's leaders pointing out that any international agreement without Senate approval could be undone by a subsequent administration. The Obama White House accused those Republicans of undermining the administration's foreign policy. Bret.
BAIER: Rich, thank you.
