Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of sabotaging White House foreign policy of Iran, telling Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif to wait-out the Trump administration. Kerry’s been on an exploratory tour bashing the Trump White House, testing the water on a possible 2020 presidential run. Kerry ran and lost to former President George W. Bush in 2004, criticized for his awkward campaign style and poor performances in presidential debates. Rising to chief Trump basher, the former Secretary of State appeared Wednesday on PBS’s “Amanpour,” slamming the Trump White House for canceling May 8 U.S. involvement in the July 15, 2015 so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action AKA the “Iranian Nuke Deal,” the international agreement signed by five Permanent Security Council members plus Germany.
President Donald Trump promised while campaigning in 2016 to “tear up” former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal, claiming it gave billions to Iran in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment program. Trump contended that Obama’s Nuke Deal, negotiated by Kerry and Zarif for two years, provided no real verification, preventing the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] from gaining access to Iran’s sensitive military sites. Without verification, Trump believed the agreement was worthless, essentially handing Iran $1.6 billion in cash and $150 billion in sanctions relief. Once completed, Iran went on a military binge, starting a proxy war in Yemen, and arming Hezbollah and Hamas. Kerry can’t control his ire for Trump undoing his major foreign policy accomplishment while Obama’s Secretary of State from Feb. 1, 2013 to Jan. 20, 2017.
Calling Kerry’s public rebukes “actively undermining” Trump’s new Iran policy, Pompeo called Kerry’s meetings with Zarif “beyond inappropriate.” Kerry reportedly told Zarif to be patient and wait out the Trump administration. “Illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian regime, which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people,” said Pompeo. Kerry’s recent media blitz says more about testing the water for a future presidential run than actively undermining U.S. foreign policy. Promoting his new book, “Every Day is Extra,” Kerry, spends little time talking about his book but rippling the Trump White House. Pompeo said he would leave “legal determinations to others” but said Kerry’s continued meetings with Zarif violates the 1799 Logan Act, preventing civilians from negotiating U.S. foreign policy, something banned for nearly 220 years.
Pompeo blasted Kerry for taking former Energy Secretary Earnest Munoz and ex-Iran negotiator Wendy Sherman to meet with Zarif at the 2018 Munich Security Conference. “You can’t find a precedent for this in U.S. history, and Secretary Kerry ought not to engage in that kind of behavior,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “It’s inconsistent with what foreign policy out of the United States is as directed by this president and it is beyond inappropriate for him to be engage,” putting Kerry on notice to cease-and-desist. Kerry knows that the more he’s seen as a tough rooster going up against Trump and Pompeo, he’s viewed as a possible candidate in 2020. Trump and Pompeo have tried to gain leverage on Iran by re-applying economic sanctions, designed to further cripple the beleaguered Iranian economy. With its currency and stock market sinking, Iran can’t afford more U.S. sanctions.
With so much animosity toward Trump in the press, Kerry gets a pass for actively subverting U.S. foreign policy. Whatever his feelings about Trump, Kerry’s in no position to influence foreign policy once he leaves office. “I wasn’t in the meeting, but I am reasonably confident that he was not there in support of U.S. policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo said. It’s one thing for retired U.S. leaders to attend foreign gatherings, it’s another to actively denounce a sitting U.S. president. “Former secretaries of state—all of them, from either political party—ought not to be engaging in “actively undermining U.S. policy as a former secretary of state is literally unheard of,” said Pompeo, realizing these are no ordinary times with Democrats and the press lined up against the White House. Denouncing Trump has become the favorite pastime of Democrats and the press.
Trump administration officials find themselves the object of constant disdain and criticism by the press. It’s no accident that Kerry’s “book tour” has morphed in a lets-rip-Trump tour, auditioning as a possible 2020 Democratic candidate. Whether speaking with Zarif at the Munich Security Conference crosses the line is anyone’s guess. At this point, there aren’t too many prosecutors willing to take Kerry to task for subverting U.S.- Iran policy. Whether or not Kerry violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act [FARA] is a matter of whether prosecutors want to press charges. Judging by the avalanche of criticism against Trump, it’s doubtful any U.S. attorney would take it on. “He [Kerry] told them to wait out the Trump administration! Was he registered under the Foreign Agencts Resigistration Act? BAD!” Trump tweeted yesterday, hoping Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions would finally do something.
