‘Another Apparent Trump Crime’: Susan Rice Argues Trump’s Reported Calls With Putin Could Be Illegal

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Susan Rice, the former UN ambassador under President Barack Obama and aide to President Joe Biden, argued that former President Donald Trump may have broken the law with his reported phone calls to Vladimir Putin as a private citizen.

Former United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman wrote on X that the new reporting from Bob Woodward on Tuesday about Trump’s continued ties to Putin shows that “Clearly @realDonaldTrump works for Vladimir Putin; not for the American people. Dangerous, outrageous, disloyal, disqualifying.”

Rice replied to Sherman and added, “Additionally, this would seem to be a violation of the Logan Act. Exactly what Trump falsely accused John Kerry of. Another apparent Trump crime.”

Woodward’s reporting says that Trump spoke to Putin at least seven times since leaving office in 2021 and also revealed that Trump sent Putin Covid-19 testing kits during a shortage in the U.S. while he was president.

The Hill explains that the Logan Act makes it “illegal for American citizens to negotiate with foreign governments in dispute with the United States without prior approval, was introduced in 1799 and is meant to prevent unauthorized diplomacy from undermining the current administration’s position.”

Rice’s comment about John Kerry, refers to Trump accusing Kerry of breaking the Logan Act in 2019. “John Kerry violated the Logan Act. He’s talking to Iran and has many meetings and many phone calls and he’s telling them what to do. That is [a] total violation of the Logan Act,” Trump said during a press briefing.

Notably, no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act and the contents of Trump’s reported calls with Putin are unknown.