Obama’s Visit With Canadian Prime Minister Ignites Fury on Right

Only two people in U.S. history have ever been charged under the Logan Act, and neither prosecution ultimately succeeded, according to The Federalist Society.

In 1803, private citizen Francis Flournoy was indicted after publishing a newspaper article in Kentucky calling for western U.S. territories to break away from the Union and form a separate nation aligned with France.

Nearly five decades later, in 1852, Jacob Levy was indicted for sending a letter to Mexico’s president urging him not to approve a proposed treaty with the United States.

To violate the law, per Newsweek, all three conditions must be met:

1. The person must be acting without U.S. government authorization.
   

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