Sen. Chris Murphy confirmed The Federalist’s reporting that he privately met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif without State Department knowledge or approval in Munich last week.
After Mollie Hemingway first reported the meeting Monday, Murphy did not respond to any media inquiries. Tuesday, he published an account of his trip on Medium, sharing details of his meetings and describing his “mission” to meet with officials of Iran, which he described as “our adversary, responsible for the killing of thousands of Americans.”
Murphy also described his “goals” for meeting with Zarif, but admitted that he “cannot conduct diplomacy on behalf of the whole of the U.S. government, and I don’t pretend to be in a position to do so. But if Trump isn’t going to talk to Iran, then someone should.”
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
Murphy said he wanted to discuss Iran’s reprisals for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, aid in Yemen, and American prisoners held in Iran.
“A lack of dialogue leaves nations guessing about their enemy’s intentions, and guessing wrong can lead to catastrophic mistakes,” Murphy wrote, justify his possible undermining of U.S. foreign policy.
During a press conference with Ethiopian Minister Gedu Andargachew in the east African nation Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to The Federalist’s report of Murphy’s meeting.
“If they met, I don’t know what they said. I hope they were reinforcing America’s foreign policy and not their own,” Pompeo said after noting that Zarif is the foreign minister of a country that is the world’s largest sponsor of both terror and antisemitism.
Shall we stand aside as Democrats demand he be brought up on charges for violating the Logan Act or are we to be treated to yet another vivid example of utter and transparent liberal hypocrisy?
I’ll put my money on the latter.
So a new twist to the coup? The Senator must be arrested .
@kitt: How much you want to bet Logan suddenly becomes unenforceable?
@Deplorable Me: They are no longer in charge thats why the sky screaming, Durham has them treed, but like every cornered animal they are at their most dangerous. Who paid for or sponsored the Senators illegal jaunt?
@kitt: Soros! Put $1,000 on red for commie.
This is the same Bean Brain who did not want t o NRA to sponsor a car in the Nascar Race What a Dope
doubt if this was a meeting of reprisal as much as how much money can you put in my pocket. a clear violation of the Logan Act and can not see why Barr had not nailed drunk kerry earlier