Chapomatic

I thought that Congress regulated commerce with foreign nations and the President appointed ambassadors. I’m sure I’m missing some nuance. Any legal beagles care to fill me in here on the details?

In a “Dear Colleague” letter released earlier today, King said Pelosi had overstepped her constitutional role as Speaker when she traveled to Syria in April.

“Taking her cue from the Iraq Study Group’s recommendation that the U.S. enter into talks with Syria to forge a new way forward in Iraq, Speaker Pelosi decided to ignore the requests of the President that she refrain from traveling to the terrorist state,” the letter said.

King told The Hill that he believed Pelosi was in violation of the Logan Act, a 1799 law signed by President John Adams that prohibits unauthorized U.S. citizens from interfering with relations between the United States and foreign governments.

“I was one of the members of Congress that was incensed the Speaker had taken it upon herself to conduct foreign policy,” he said. “It was a blatant violation of the Logan Act.”

No one has ever been prosecuted under the 208-year old law, according to the Congressional Research Service.

He said that it was not the visit that caused him to introduce the measure, but Pelosi’s decision, in his perception, to act as a diplomat that made him take action.

“She carried a message from Israel to Syria and that message according to representatives of both Syria and Israel wasn’t consistent with what one of them agreed to … these are the kind of problems you get,” he said.

A spokesman for Pelosi brushed off the amendment as a partisan attack.

“How can anyone take this amendment seriously, especially when it comes on the same day that Bush Administration officials are in North Korea? And why would anyone think it is responsible to restrict the ability of the Speaker of the House to bring the concerns of the American people to foreign leaders? It is part of the Speaker’s job,” said spokesman Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Pelosi.

Emphasis mine. I understand CODELs are pretty common, but seems to me there’s something a bit odd about doing a CODEL to subvert the executive. I would note that from what I can tell in the press the embassy appears to have done its support role for the Pelosi CODEL; in a nastier game they could have been rather less responsive about it.

Update: Hot Air was on this story, with a title “GOP moves to stop House Speaker from meeting with terrorist states”. Heh. They’ve also got some points to advocate on the exact question I’m asking. anybody else?

Oh, and guess how the dissidents in Syria have been doing since Pelosi’s visit…