The New American
As a shadowy collection of the world’s power brokers gathers in Chantilly, Virginia, for the elite Bilderberg conference this weekend under unprecedented media scrutiny,
activists from across the political spectrum are arguing that U.S.
citizens attending the controversial confab are potentially committing a
felony by violating the Logan Act.
And while the chances of charges being brought anytime soon are
probably slim, anti-Bilderberg protesters admit, more than a few critics
of the meeting are still loudly calling for federal prosecutions to
bring any and all perpetrators to justice.
The yearly gathering
includes media magnates, titans of industry, top bankers, influential
politicians, royalty and nobility, prominent academics, military and
“intelligence” chieftains, and many other members of the so-called
“global elite.” And the 2012 conference is no different. According to a guest list
released by the group — which analysts who study Bilderberg say
typically omits certain key participants — there are about 50 Americans
in attendance, all of them extraordinarily influential. Other
participants hailed mostly from Europe, though even a high-ranking
official from the Communist dictatorship ruling China was in attendance
this year.
The legal problem raised by critics is that federal law specifically
bars any U.S. citizen without government permission from working with
foreign officials on matters of policy. Passed under the John Adams
administration in 1799, the Logan Act was amended as recently as the
1990s and, despite almost never being used, remains on the books today.
And that, Bilderberg opponents say, means that Americans meeting with
foreign officials at the secretive gathering should be investigated and
eventually prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The
Logan Act states, in part: “Any citizen of the United States, wherever
he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or
indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse
with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent
to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of
any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or
controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the
United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more
than three years, or both.” -[Full Article]
