Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Wednesday, July 27, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Federalist broke a story on Monday alleging that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and other Democratic senators had a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference last week.
Both Murphy and Zarif spoke at the Munich conference and attacked U.S. foreign policy, according to The Federalist.
This was particularly troubling especially in the middle of an election and especially given their recent attack on us and the killing of an American and the wounding of others.
As the Federalist notes this would mean that Murphy did exactly what he accused Trump officials of doing.
In February 2017, Murphy demanded investigations of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn because he had a phone call with his counterpart-to-be in Russia.
“Any effort to undermine our nation’s foreign policy – even during a transition period – may be illegal and must be taken seriously,” Murphy said in 2017 after anonymous leaks of Flynn’s phone call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kisylak were published. He also strongly criticized the open letter some Republican senators sent Iranian leaders during the Obama administration’s campaign for a nuclear agreement.
However, Murphy has previously defended rogue meetings if they’re done by Democrats such as former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry and other members of the Obama administration and Democrats have met secretly with Iranians during the Trump administration.
Murphy didn’t initially respond to inquiries by The Federalist about the secret meeting.
But now he is responding on Twitter and in a Medium post and what he’s saying is just incredible. He’s claiming he has the right to talk to the Zarif about American foreign policy because the Congress “sets foreign policy too.” Not only that he also admits spoke to Ukrainian president Zelensky and appears to have done his best to sow discord there as well.
1/ Attached is my usual account of my latest trip abroad, this one to Ukraine and Munich.
I met w the Iranian Foriegn Minister in Munich. It’s dangerous not to talk to adversaries, esp amidst a cycle of escalation.
Quick thread on what I told Zarif.https://t.co/2oYjiXfZ7J
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
2/ First, I urged him to control any Iranian proxies in Iraq who might attack U.S. forces and allies there.
Second, I pressed him to release American citizens being unlawfully detained in Iran.
Third, I pushed him to end the Houthi blockage of humanitarian aid in Yemen.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
3/ Congress is a co-equal branch to the executive. We set foreign policy too. Many of us have met w Zarif over the years, under Obama and Trump. So though no one in Congress can negotiate with Zarif or carry official U.S. government messages, there is value in having a dialogue.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
4/ I wish President Trump would see that value too. Because our current policy of blind, non-strategic escalation is just making Iran more powerful and menacing, and making America weaker and less secure.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
This is crazy, it’s the President’s right under the Constitution to set foreign policy, not Congress. This is again completely in violation of the Constitution and norms (at least prior to the Constitution-breaking Obama officials/Democrats).
“Unless it was authorized by the president or secretary of state, conducting independent foreign policy sends mixed signals to our adversaries,” said Christian Whiton, former State Department senior advisor in the Trump and George W. Bush administrations. “It seems very unpalatable. If we want to talk to Iranians, they know how to reach us and they don’t need to go through an intermediary.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the report making it very clear they had not cleared the trip with the State Department and it had not been sanctioned by the government. Plus it was held in secret and Murphy only came out with it only after it was exposed by The Federalist.
Pompeo said the Democratic group met with the foremost state sponsor of terrorism, according to the Free Beacon.
Pompeo, speaking to reporters during a tour through Africa, said that the Democrats who participated in the meeting are aiding and abetting the globe’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitism.
“This guy is designated by the United States,” Pompeo said, referring to Zarif’s recent addition to official U.S. terrorism lists.
“He’s the foreign minister for a country that shot down an airliner and has yet to turn over the black boxes,” Pompeo continued, referencing Iran’s recent downing of a commercial airliner that killed all of those aboard. “This is the foreign minister of a country that killed an American on December 27. This is the foreign minister of a country that is the world’s largest state sponsor of terror and the world’s largest sponsor of anti-Semitism.”
“If they met,” he said of the Democratic senators. “I don’t know what they said. I hope they were reinforcing America’s foreign policy, not their own.”
It’s not clear exactly who the other Democrats involved were, although the Democrats who were at the conference included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). John Kerry was also at the conference.
Murphy appears to say in his Medium post that he met with Zarif in his hotel suite. He says he wanted to be sure that reprisals for the Soleimani killing were over, that he wanted Zarif to help with the Houthis in Yemen and that he spoke about American prisoners being held in Iran.
Given that he didn’t clear the trip with the State Department and only came out with it after he was caught, we cannot really place any faith in what he says. This is incredibly harmful and dangerous to meet with an enemy in the middle of in his own words a “near-war.” If anything is a violation of the Logan Act, this is and it may be more than that. There’s a word for meeting with the enemy in a time of war. Murphy needs to be investigated and put under oath immediately and all Democrats need to be read the riot act that this will not be permitted or they will face prosecution.
From The Federalist:
Murphy is a frequent speaker at the National Iranian American Council, a lobbying group with alleged links to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Republican Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Ted Cruz of Texas recently asked the Department of Justice for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
They wrote that the influential lobbying group “purports to improve understanding between American and Iranian people but in reality seems to spread propaganda and lobby on behalf of the Iranian government.” Evidence indicates that evidence Zarif himself was involved in founding the group.
But it wasn’t only foreign policy with Iran in which Murphy meddled. He also met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky and appears to have done his best to sow discord there as well.
He has the temerity to post about his meeting on Medium and slams Trump throughout his post.
He actually confesses to issuing Zelensky a warning, thus not only undermining Trump with a foreign leader but potentially undermining any possibility of investigation into corruption by the Bidens.
At our September meeting with Zelensky, I made a point of telling him that getting involved with Rudy Giuliani and the Trump reelection campaign was potentially disastrous for Ukraine. And I knew that I had to deliver the same message to Zelensky now. Unbelievably, Giuliani was back in Ukraine in the middle of the impeachment trial trying to dig up more dirt on Vice President Biden and other Trump rivals — the corruption was still ongoing — and I felt like I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t once again remind Zelensky of the damage he could do to the country’s reputation if he ever succumbed to the pressure. I couldn’t sleep as I tried to figure out the tactful way to continue to make this case.
Here’s what he said to Zelensky when they met at the conference.
Then, I turn to the touchier subject. “Mr. President, your instinct has always been right, to stay out of American politics. You’ve always understood the damage that could have been done if you got involved in our presidential election. But there are reports that Mayor Giuliani isn’t done trying to dig up dirt on Trump’s opponents — he was here in Ukraine in December, we understand — and I just want to ask you directly if you are still feeling pressure to help with his investigations?”
Murphy claimed Zelensky said he intended to steer clear of Giuliani or involvement in American politics.
Sounds like Murphy needs to be investigated for this as well, he clearly inserted himself into ongoing investigations and one has to wonder what else he said or what kind of pressure he put on Zelensky.
At the conference he spoke out against American foreign policy and said “I want the leaders in Munich to understand that Democrats have a different view of the Middle East than Trump.” Yes, but you don’t get to set policy and don’t have the right to undermine current U.S. policy.
