Itinerary

Opening

Hello and welcome to Learning the Law; a podcast about US history, your rights as a citizen, and how these things affect you. We’re here to help you understand your rights and how the legal system works in the USA. My name is Phoenix with my co-host and spouse, Ron. This podcast is purely educational and should not be taken as legal advice, this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship, this podcast is based on our interpretation of relevant law. Any opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual making them and do not reflect the opinions of any firm, company, or other individuals. Ron is a licensed practicing attorney in the state of California and Phoenix is a journalist who’s been in the film industry for over 20 yrs. This podcast does touch on a lot of sensitive subjects like sexual assault and police brutality we just want our audience to be aware. Remember, you can always pause and come back.

Sponsor/ad op –

Your donations help us create this podcast please consider donating through our paypal at paypal.me/twolazydogsmedia. If you would like to sponsor the podcast please email us at twolazydogsmedia@gmail.com.  

Sponsor/ad op

Quick update to the podcast before we get into things, we have now joined a community called the Feminist Podcasters Collective: A podcast network of equity-centered independent creators seeking to uplift diverse voices and drive meaningful change. We are very excited to be a part of this group.We will be promoting other awesome podcasts to check out as well as having guest interviews in future episodes! We’re very excited about the direction the podcast is going and that is because of all of you listeners so thank you so much for being here with us.

Main Topic: Logan ACT

1. What is the Logan Act?
   1. The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799) is a United States federal law that criminalizes the negotiation of a dispute between the United States and a foreign government by an unauthorized American citizen. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government’s position.
   2. The Act was amended in 1994, changing the penalty for violation from “fined $5,000” to “fined under this title”; this appears to be the only amendment to the Act.^[2] Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable with imprisonment for up to three years.
2. How did the Logan Act come about?
   1. In 1798, amid tensions between the U.S. and France, President Adams sent three envoys to France to negotiate. Negotiations were unsuccessful. Dr. George Logan of Pennsylvania, a state legislator and pacifist, in 1798 engaged in negotiations with France as a private citizen^.
   2. The Logan Act was basically a response to an effort by George Logan to try to negotiate directly with the French government. This was a big scandal at the time in foreign affairs because Logan—a Democratic-Republican—was trying to thwart the policy of the Federalists, who controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.
3. Who does have the authority to negotiate with foreign governments?
   1. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution includes the ‘Treaty Clause,’ which empowers the President of the United States to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements, which must be confirmed by the Senate, between the United States and other countries, which become treaties between the United States and other countries after the advice and consent of a supermajority of the United States Senate.
   2. In United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304 (1936), Justice Sutherland, writing for the Court, observed, [T]he President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation. He makes treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, but he alone negotiates. Into the field of negotiation, the Senate cannot intrude; and Congress itself is powerless to invade it. As Marshall said in his great argument of March 7, 1800, in the House of Representatives, ‘The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations.’
4. Has anyone ever been found guilty?
   1. 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]
   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]
   3. In 1975, Senators John Sparkman and George McGovern traveled to Cuba and met with officials there. In considering that case, the U.S. Department of State concluded:
      1. The clear intent of this provision [Logan Act] is to prohibit unauthorized persons from intervening in disputes between the United States and foreign governments. Nothing in section 953 [Logan Act], however, would appear to restrict members of the Congress from engaging in discussions with foreign officials in pursuance of their legislative duties under the Constitution. In the case of Senators McGovern and Sparkman the executive branch, although it did not in any way encourage the Senators to go to Cuba, was fully informed of the nature and purpose of their visit, and had validated their passports for travel to that country.
      2. Senator McGovern’s report of his discussions with Cuban officials states: “I made it clear that I had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the United States—that I had come to listen and learn …” (Cuban Realities: May 1975, 94th Cong., 1st Sess., August 1975). Senator Sparkman’s contacts with Cuban officials were conducted on a similar basis. The specific issues raised by the Senators (e.g., the Southern Airways case; Luis Tiant‘s desire to have his parents visit the United States) would, in any event, appear to fall within the second paragraph of Section 953.
      3. Accordingly, the Department does not consider the activities of Senators Sparkman and McGovern to be inconsistent with the stipulations of Section 953.^[10]
   4. In June 2007, Representative Steve King introduced legislation that would prohibit Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from drawing on federal funds to travel to foreign states which the U.S. deemed to sponsor terrorism.^[11] The amendment was not adopted.
   5. In March 2015, 47 Republican senators released an open letter to the Iranian government regarding President Barack Obama‘s attempts to broker a nuclear arms agreement between Iran and six major powers (P5+1).^[12][13] The letter warns Iran of the limitations of President Obama’s term in office and constitutional powers and notes that anything done without the advice and consent of the Senate could be undone by the next president.^[14][15][16] A petition on the White House‘s We The People website requesting that the Obama administration prosecute the 47 senators under the Logan Act accumulated signatures from over 320,200 people.^[5]
   6. In April 2018, former Secretary of State John Kerry met with the Iranian Foreign Minister in order to ensure the Iran nuclear deal framework remained more or less intact. Matthew Summers, a spokesman for Kerry, admitted that Kerry “urged Iran to keep its commitments under the Iran nuclear agreement”.^[17] Stephen Vladeck, law professor at the University of Texas, did not agree that Kerry would be in violation of the act as his intent was to preserve the US policy then in place, rather than seeking to destroy it.^[18] Vladeck has also said of the Act: “It raises serious constitutional questions that I think would dissuade even the most zealous prosecutor from trying a case under the Logan Act.”^[19]
   7. Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Geoffrey Berman stated that he was pressured by the Justice Department to indict Kerry for violating the Logan Act.^[20] The SDNY office informed the Department of Justice that it would not prosecute. Berman stated the Justice Department then sent the case to the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, which also declined to prosecute Kerry.^[20]
   8. Which brings us to the current controversy —
      1. In August of 2024, former President Donald Trump was reported to have contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to reject any cease fire deal, fearing a cease fire would help Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election.^[21] 
      2. This was reported by Judy Woodruff during a live broadcast by PBS during the Democratic National Convention. The next day, Woodruff issued a statement apologizing for the comments, saying, “I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn’t seen later reporting that both sides denied it. This was a mistake and I apologize for it.”^[22] The Axios article carried by Reuters had stated that “One source told Axios Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.”, with no mention of Trump urging him to reject any cease fire deal^[23] This story was published on August 14, 2024, and the following day, Axios published a follow-up story stating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had released a statement saying that Netanyahu did not speak with former President Donald Trump to discuss the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.^[24]

Sponsor/ad op –

If you are a non-binary/trans/or woman creator and are looking for a safe space where you can chat with like minded individuals and get resources to help you on your creative journey in this ever changing online space you should check out GirlStreamers. GirlStreamers is an online community that focuses on support and inclusivity in the online world of content creation. It is a closed private community for the purposes of creating a truly safe space for women and non cishet men online. You can join the discord at discord.gg/girlstreamers and follow GS on all major social media platforms!

Topic B: Project 2025 

(something to note
the old link stopped working, I think they uploaded a new one but I didn’t download the old one so I don’t know the differences but the new link goes to our google drive copy of the pdf for everyone to have access to.)

Defining fascism – Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

1. Section One: Taking the Reins of Gov (pg 51)
   1. Chp 1: White House Office (pg 55)
   2. Chp 2: Executive Office of the President of the US (pg 75)
   3. Chp 3: Central Personnel Agencies: Managing the Bureaucracy (pg 101)
2. Section Two: The Common Defense (pg 119)
   1. Department of Defense (pg 123)
   2. Department of Homeland Security (pg 165)
   3. Department of State (pg 203-233)
      1. The X article
      2. The Hart–Rudman Commission
   4. Intelligence Community (pg 233 – 263)
      1. Mass shooting in philly
      2. Five Eyes
      3. FISA bill blocked
   5. Media Agencies (pg 235 – 280)
      1. US Agency for Global Media
         1. The Firewall Regulation
      2. Corporation for Public Broadcasting
   6. Agency for International Development (pg 285 – 311)
      1. Clear Choice definition (pg287)
      2. Climate policies in fact help food insecurities according to the UN (pg289)
      3. We are paying the price by American business not investing in Central and South America as well as Africa because of racist ideals.
      4. Get rid of all DEI initiatives
      5. Scrub government websites of all non-conservative policies and ideals
3. Section Three: The General Welfare (pg 315)
   2. Department of Agriculture (pg 321 –  342)
      1. Snap Legislation 
   3. Department of Education (pg 351 – 393)
   4. Department of Energy and Related Commissions (pg 395 –  441)
   5. Environmental Protection Agency (pg 449 – 477)
   6. Department of Health and Human Services (pg 481-529)
      1. FDA Mifipristone
      2. Maternal Mortality Rates
   7. Department of Housing and Urban Development (pg 535 – 544)

STATED GOALS

I. Reset HUD

Ii. Implement an action plan across both process and people

Move career position to political appointee positions.

Make the HUD Secretary part of the Committee of foreign Investment in order to oversee foreign threats, especially from China.

Reverse all Biden administration progressive ideology positions.

Department leadership should: 1) end Biden’s administration Property appraisal and Valuation Equity program, 2) Repeal any climate change initiatives, 3)repeal further fair housing regulations that further equity in real estate, 4)eliminate the new Housing Supply Fund.

Iii. Reverse HUD’s mission creep over nearly a century of program implementation dating from the Department’s New Deal forebearers.

Propose legislation to remove and restrict all non citizens from all housing being used by mixed-status families.

Address mental health and substance abuse issues before a person qualifies for assistance.

Enact legislation that protects life and eliminates provisions in federal housing and welfare benefits policies that discourage work, marriage, and meaningful paths to upward economic mobility.

FHA leadership should increase the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) for all products above 20-year terms and maintain MIP for all products below 20-year terms and all refinances. FHA should encourage wealth-building homeownership opportunities, which can be accomplished best through shorter-duration mortgages.3

Statutorily restricting eligibility for first-time homebuyers and abandoning the affirmative obligation authorities erected for the single-family housing programs across federal agencies and government-sponsored enterprises

Longer-term reforms of HUD rental assistance programs should encourage choice and competition for renters, encourage participation by landlords where appropriate,44 and encourage all non-elderly, able-bodied adults to move toward self-sufficiency. This can be pursued through regulations and legislative reforms that seek to strengthen work requirements, limit the period during which households are eligible for housing benefits, and add flexibility to rent payment terms to facilitate the movement of households toward self-sufficiency.

Finally, and more fundamentally, Congress could consider a wholesale overhaul of HUD that contemplates devolving many HUD functions to states and localities

8. Department of the interior (pg 549-569)
   1. Trumps’ climate rollback impact

9. Department of Justice(
10. Department of Labor and Related Agencies
11. Department of Transportation
12. Department of Veterans Affairs

4. Section 4: The Economy
   1. Dept of Commerce
   2. Dept of the Treasury
   3. Export-Import Bank
   4. Federal Reserve
   5. Small Business Administration
   6. Trade
5. Section 5: Independent Regulatory Agencies
   1. Financial Regulatory Agencies
   2. Federal Communications Commission
   3. Federal Election Commission
   4. Federal Trade Commission

Sponsor/ad op (Queer News Ad Spot)

Topic 3: – Mr Beast controversy (Listener Request)

1. Bestie Drama
   1. TW; SA allegations, transphobia
   2. BFF – Ava Kris Tyson
      1. CP allegations, 
2. Beast Games

Subject: Current Events

Sponsor/ad op

Did you hear our new theme music at the beginning of the episode? It was created by my bestie Muzicchik! Thank you Muzi for the new theme music. If you’d like to check out more of their work you can check out their soundcloud at soundcloud.com/muzicchik.

Closing

Thank you so much for listening and learning with us here on Learning the Law, if you enjoyed your time please consider leaving us a 5 star review and supporting us financially on substack at phoenixnymphy.substack.com. You can find us on our social medias links as always in the show notes and description of the podcast and if you have any questions please feel free to comment, dm, or email us at twolazydogsmedia@gmail.com. This has been a Two Lazy Dogs production.