Is Judy Woodruff's scoop legit? Is Trump trying to dissuade Israel from cutting a peace deal?

[Bucky]

This would be a HUGE issue, a major betrayal, if he actually did this. But is there any confirmed "reporting," as Woodruff termed it, that Trump is actually talking to Netanyahu along these lines?

"The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it's believe that would help the Harris campaign."

Link to tweet

[Kingofalldems]

1. It's what he does.

[mucifer]

2. I'd be shocked if he didn't

[regnaD kciN]

5. Nor would I...but the question is, can we get proof...?

If so, it’s huge (and ought to lead to his immediate arrest and confinement for Logan Act violations). If not, it’s just another rumor that will go nowhere.

[former9thward]

28. Why do people keep bringing up the Logan Act?

It has been around for 225 years. Can you tell me of one successful prosecution of the Act? I will save you time. There has been none. Every DOJ in the last 225 years, including the current one, has considered the Act to be unconstitutional.

[onecaliberal]

3. Of course he is. The war industrial complex sees $

[B.See]

4. Wouldn't put it past him.

He's about as low as they come.

[Walleye]

6. I'm pretty sure that's what he's doing, the CIA needs to talk to the FBI about this. I'm sure they are listening to him.

I’m pretty sure he’s been talking to Putin. Because why wouldn’t he?

[Bucky]

7. UPDATE: Axios says he denied it

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/15/trump-netanyahu-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-call

Why it matters: A crucial round of negotiations with senior U.S., Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials is set to take place in Doha on Thursday to try to close the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas.

Axios earlier reported that Trump spoke on the phone with Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, citing two U.S. sources who were briefed on the call.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said in a briefing on Wednesday with reporters that it is critical to reach a deal in order to release the hostages, bring relief to Palestinians in Gaza and decrease regional tensions.

There are 115 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, where nearly 39,900 Palestinians have been killed, according to the local health ministry.

Driving the news: One source said Trump's call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he didn't know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement denying the call took place after the story was published. The Trump campaign declined to comment.

[The Magistrate]

10. People Deny Lots Of Things They Do, Sir

"How is the world run, and wars begun? Diplomats tell lies to journalists and believe what they read in the papers."

[Raven123]

12. TFG has no business talking to Netanyahu.

And Netanyahu has no business talking to TFG. This is properly a Biden-Netanyahu negotiation. You can’t believe TFG or Netanyahu. They both earned the distrust of the international community.

[Bucky]

13. check out the other update: TNR points out this would be a violation of federal lawl

[Raven123]

14. Yes it would

[onenote]

18. A federal law that has never produced a conviction and was last the basis of an indictment 175 years ago

So don't hold your breath. There is a substantial argument that it is unconstitutional -- an argument that I expect the Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson would agree with.

[Bucky]

19. True, but that said...

Donald Trump has already had a couple of noteworthy firsts in the American presidency

[LeftInTX]

22. That act has never produced a conviction for anyone!! It applies to everyone in the US.

Two cases were filed in the 19th Century. Charges were dismissed before there was even a trial.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act

Only two indictments have ever been handed up under the Logan Act, both in the 19th century. The first occurred in 1803 when a grand jury indicted Francis Flournoy, a Kentucky farmer, who had written an article in the Frankfort Guardian of Freedom under the pen name of "A Western American". In the article, Flournoy advocated for the creation of a new independent state, not part of the US, in North America that would ally with France. The United States Attorney for Kentucky, an Adams appointee and brother-in-law of Chief Justice John Marshall, went no further than procuring the indictment of Flournoy, and there was no further prosecution of him. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory later that year appeared to cause the separatism issue to become moot, and the case was abandoned.[2]

In 1852, Jonas Phillips Levy became the second, and to date the last, person to be indicted under the Logan Act. Levy, an American merchant and sailor who was living in Mexico at the time, had acquired a grant to build a railway across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest point across Mexico. Secretary of State Daniel Webster had been pressuring Mexico to accept a treaty that would allow a different group of American businessmen to build the railway. Levy wrote a letter to Mexican President Mariano Arista urging him to reject Webster's proposed treaty, prompting Webster to seek an indictment against Levy for violating the Logan Act. Federal prosecutors were forced to dismiss the case after Arista refused to hand over the original copy of the letter, depriving them of the evidence they needed to convict Levy.[3]

There has been little judicial discussion of the constitutionality of the Logan Act. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Waldron v. British Petroleum Co., 231 F. Supp. 72 (S.D.N.Y. 1964), mentioned in passing that the Act was likely unconstitutional due to the vagueness of the terms "defeat" and "measures," but did not rule on the question.[2]

[JohnSJ]

8. If so it a direct violation of the Logan Act

[LeftInTX]

23. Which has NEVER been enforced in over 200 years!

[Deuxcents]

9. Judy Woodruff is a journalist with a good reputation..I don't think she's into conspiracies

Having said that, history tells us about Reagan making a deal with Iran. A deal was struck during the Viet Nam war..I believe it was Nixon and company. TSF n Bibi? Both are looking at criminal charges so..maybe but only time or some digging by investigating reporters can tell on this one.

[Bucky]

11. UPDATE: The New Republic is giving this story some creedence

https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/donald-trump-scheme-beat-kamala-harris-benjamin-netanyahu-ceasefire

He may not be in office, but Donald Trump has been speaking with the powers that be about Israel’s war on Gaza—but it’s not in an effort to end the genocide.

Instead, Trump has allegedly been talking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avert a cease-fire deal, fearing that doing so could help Vice President Kamala Harris win in November, according to PBS.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Woodruff was referring to a new report, or an Axios story last week that cited two U.S. sources as claiming that Trump and Netanyahu had spoken on the phone about cease-fire and Gaza hostage talks. Netanyahu’s office and Trump both separately denied the report.

“I did encourage him to get this over with. You want to get it over with fast. Have victory, get your victory, and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop,” Trump said at a New Jersey press conference on Thursday, referring to their meeting at Mar-a-Lago last month. But he also criticized cease-fire demands.

[MaryMagdaline]

15. Netanyahu agreed to the ceasefire as of now

Hamas is the hold out.

I don’t doubt that Trump is pulling a Nixon, but Bibi so far is not being stupid

[Bucky]

17. When you say he's "pulling a Nixon", do you mean something like "pulling a Reagan"?

It's not a new trick for these dogs

[MaryMagdaline]

20. Yes but Nixon was the OG Traitor

He campaigned behind the scenes to keep the Viet Nam War going so that LBJ would not get credit for stopping war.

Reagan did the same thing with the hostages.

[AloeVera]

29. Netanyahu agreed to the U.S "Bridging" Deal.

Which it looks like incorporated Netanyahu's new demands made at the end of July. This was a no-go for Hamas, as Netanyahu knew and in fact was advised against by his own people, for fear of nixing the deal. Which it did. Hamas has already said they are willing to accept Biden's framework proposed at the end of May but not this deal with new demands.

So the ceasefire is pretty much dead, as will be a lot more Palestinians. Bombing has resumed relentlessly.

But guess what happened just a few days after Trump and Netanyahu met at Mar-a-Lago on July 26th? Netanyahu issued these new demands GUARANTEED to be rejected by Hamas, and then, to top it off, assassinated the lead Hamas negotiator.

Coincidence? You be the judge.

[MaryMagdaline]

31. Thank you for clarification

[AloeVera]

32. My pleasure.

[magicarpet]

16. This is like a mini coup d'etat for trDUMP, erroneously and fraudulently appointing himself defacto shadow President,...

.... over Biden's Presidency.

We elected Biden to be our duly sworn President for a duration of four years. This four year stay includes running the office of international diplomacy. That responsibility is encompassed within the executive Office of the Presidency, also for a duration of four years.

Yet trDUMP feels it is incumbent upon himself to to over rule or over throw or to somehow out guess the decisions made by the US State Department that is currently under the direct control of only President Joe Biden. Why trDUMP is sticking his fucking nose in this business is anyone's guess.

His motivation is clearly to squash any ceasefire or cessation of war and hostilities so trDUMP can proclaim Biden and the Democratic Party incapable of high stakes negotiations involving the Middle East. It can only be solved by Donald trDUMP himself, he alone possesses the skills to get this task done. Biden, Harris, and the Dems are incompetent and incapable of attaining a peace settlement. Or should it be said - Donald trDUMP is going to be damn sure he makes it appear so. If a settlement and a peace accord comes to Gaza trDUMP made it happen and trDUMP deserves all the credit, certainly not Biden or Kamala Harris.

trDUMP overstep his bounds, contacting Netanyahu telling him to reject Biden's ceasefire and end of hostilities settlement proposal plan. trDUMP does not want Biden to get credit for bringing peace to the Israel/Gaza conflict. It would significantly help Biden's now Kamala Harris' re-election prospects and those of the Dems if a peace settlement was signed under their watch.

Netanyahu should wait until trDUMP is re-elected to his second term - then do a Gaza peace settlement plan. That way Trump gets all the credit and help him win re-election for himself. If Netanyahu could see it in his heart to wait until after the election, once trDUMP wins he will offer millions and millions of financial support for Netanyahu personally and the state government of Israel also.

How is this not high jacking the operations of the State Department from the legally appointed President Joe Biden, and handing it to the defacto self appointed illegal President, Donald trDUMP. So he can then use and manipulate the operations of the State Department to enhance his re-election chances by fraudulent means.

Where or how does trDUMP have the right to appoint himself defacto shadow President with the intent to establish an alternate defacto shadow government in place of the real and legal government we the people elected Biden to officially run alone, without some idiot over ruling him at the whims and the fancy of the unelected idiot ?

[red dog 1]

21. The New Republic is reporting today that "Donald Trump is reportedly advising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

which would be a violation of the Logan Act"


"Trump's Latest Scheme to Beat Harris May Have Crossed Legal Lines"
https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/donald-trump-scheme-beat-kamala-harris-benjamin-netanyahu-ceasefire

[LeftInTX]

24. The Logan Act has never been enforced.

Two peons were arrested in the 19th Century and charges were dropped against them.

[UTUSN]

25. WOODRUFF has top of the line credibility and would hardly throw it away.

So am looking forward for the avalanche of validation coverage to come.

[NoMoreRepugs]

26. The SlobFather "advising" anyone is ridiculous, he's either bribing

or lying to NetenYAHOO.

[Historic NY]

27. Well BiBi was at Mara Lara Ding Dong

[Silent Type]

30. Of course trump would do that. His supporters don't care.