Timothy Geithner and The Logan Act 1799

Timothy Geithner has been in the news as he traveled to China to engage in discussions with the government regarding our US funding. A friend suggested Mr. Geithner had broken the law, specifically the Logan Act of 1799. My response to my friend's allegation follows.

As quoted in West’s Encyclopedia of American Law: The Logan Act has remained almost unchanged and unused since its passage. The act is short and reads as follows:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This Act came into being as Dr. George Logan sailed to France to attempt to negotiate better relations between the US and France. Due to his involvement, the French government lifted the trade embargo which allowed less animosity on the high seas.

Instead of returning to the United States as complete hero, the Republican Party praised him while Federalists Party raised criticism. President Adams, the only American Federalist Party president, immediately enacted the Logan Act to prevent a private citizen from interfering in international affairs.

Fast forward to 2008 and Timothy Geithner and US-China relations. The New York Times reported:

Mr. Geithner held high-level talks on Tuesday with some of China’s top leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, and said in an interview that Beijing had not lost faith in the United States economy.

“What I sense is a fair amount of confidence in the underlying strength of the American economy,” Mr. Geithner told reporters in a Tuesday morning briefing.

The visit came amid growing worries in China over the state of the American economy and the prospect that heavy government spending and ballooning deficits in the United States could eventually weaken the dollar and destroy the value of China’s extensive United States Treasury holdings.

The question Frankie raises, “it APPEARS that Mr. Geitner [sic] may have broken the law.” My response: Absolutely not!

Timothy Geithner is NOT a private citizen at this point; he is Treasury Secretary in the Obama Cabinet. He traveled to China to communicate with Chinese leadership in light of the US economy. Whether we, as citizens, like it or not, China has an interest in the US economy. Timothy Geithner didn’t create this, nor did President Obama. This situation has developed over a number of US Administrations and now the Obama Administration must move forward to lead the US toward a healthier, more solvent financial situation.

When President Adams enacted the Logan Act, life was very different in this young country; and Dr. Logan was not a authorized in any way to represent the country. This is a marked difference in circumstances of 1799 vs. 2009. In my opinion, Geithner HAS NOT broken the law.

So, what happened to Dr. Logan? According to Wikipedia: Subsequently, Logan himself was appointed and then elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate from Pennsylvania to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Peter G. Muhlenberg and served from July 13, 1801, to March 3, 1807. He was unsuccessful in getting the Logan Act repealed. Logan declined to be a candidate for reelection. Nonetheless, despite the Logan Act, he went to England in 1810 on a private diplomatic mission as an emissary of peace in the period before the outbreak of the War of 1812, but was not successful.

Seems he didn’t learn his lesson.