Guests on 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show and The Peter Boyles Show as well as Fox News Radio 600 KCOL host Scott James dubiously asserted on recent broadcasts that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) broke the law when she met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Furthermore, co-host Dan Caplis, before denouncing a “trend in Washington of trying to criminalize politics,” attacked Pelosi for “undercut[ting]” President Bush, saying of her visit, “This ... has to be a crime.”

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, conservatives have criticized Pelosi for meeting with Assad on April 4, while routinely failing to mention either that a Republican congressional delegation had met with Assad just days before Pelosi's visit or that a Republican congressman was a member of the Pelosi delegation. Furthermore, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (CA) met with Assad on April 5. This pattern continued on the April 9 Caplis & Silverman broadcast and the April 10 Peter Boyles and Ride Home with The James Gang shows.

Robert F. Turner, a former Reagan administration State Department official whose op-ed titled “Illegal Diplomacy: Did Nancy Pelosi commit a felony when she went to Syria?” was published in The Wall Street Journal on April 6, appeared on Caplis & Silverman to discuss the piece.

From the April 9 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

CAPLIS: Professor, could you give us a brief overview of your piece and your conclusion on that question you raised?

TURNER: Well, the, the, the issue is actually more important than the felony statute, because it has to do with violating her oath of office to uphold the Constitution. But the Founding Fathers gave the control of diplomacy and foreign affairs in general to the president, subject to some narrow checks vested in the Senate or in Congress. For example, the president can't make a treaty without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate, but the business of negotiation has always been understood to be the executive function. Now, John Marshall, our most famous chief justice, in Marbury versus Madison spoke about the president having certain powers that are, you know, that are exclusive [coughs] -- excuse me -- that were not be checked and that one of those powers was his control over foreign affairs. So, since -- actually the debate started in 1798, but in 1799 Congress overwhelmingly passed something that's been referred to as the Logan Act, which makes it a felony to interfere in foreign negotiation, basically, and it's -- what my article did was point out -- I actually did my academic doctorate on this issue back many years ago, and so I read the whole 150-page debate, and one of the points that was repeatedly made was that for a member of Congress to engage in communications, particularly with a country with which we had a, you know, a difficult relationship, would be particularly inappropriate. And whether it constituted high treason or merely a felony was depending upon whether there was a state of war.

[...]

TURNER: I don't think -- or, at least, I suspect Pelosi didn't even know that law existed. And I suspect she doesn't understand the separation of powers. I, I -- to be honest, I don't know much about her. I haven't followed her closely. But she may not even be a lawyer, but most lawyers don't spend much time working in this area.

[...]

CAPLIS: We had a real interesting guest a few minutes ago, professor Robert Turner from Virginia law school, who wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria was probably a felony, a violation of the Logan Act. So we're getting your take on whether you agree with him, whether you think she should be prosecuted. I'll tell you, I, I think he makes a compelling case that it was a felony. When you watch it happen, you just, I think, on a gut level think, this is wrong. This, this has to be a crime. You know, the president handles our diplomacy. To undercut him like this, speaker of the House, that has to be a crime. And I think he's made a compelling case. I do not -- do not -- think Nancy Pelosi should be prosecuted. I don't want her to be prosecuted. I hate this trend in Washington of trying to criminalize politics. Hey, if what she did was as wrong as I believe it was, then she and the Democrats will pay a price for it. Let these things be decided within the political process.

In discussing Pelosi's purported violation of the Logan Act (18 U.S.C. 953), Turner failed to mention that it does not appear to bar members of Congress from speaking with foreign leaders. According to a 1975 State Department statement, which was noted in a February 1, 2006, report on the Logan Act by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS): “The clear intent of this provision ... is to prohibit unauthorized persons from intervening in disputes between the United States and foreign governments. Nothing in [the 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.” Turner claimed to know the scope of a member of Congress' legislative duties for purposes of the Logan Act, and to know that Pelosi has acted outside that scope. But he cited no judicial authority for that specific position -- nor could he, because there apparently are no court decisions interpreting that statute as it may apply to actions by members of Congress.

Moreover, Caplis' statement that he “hate[s] this trend in Washington of trying to criminalize politics” echoed a similar comment former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) made on the April 9 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Mike Rosen Show. While discussing numerous ethics charges and allegations of criminal misconduct leveled against him, DeLay told Rosen, “It is now a different level of electoral politics. It's, it's criminalization of politics. It's no longer good enough to defeat somebody politically or, or vilify them publicly. You have to carpet-bomb them and disgrace them.”

KCOL's James referred to the Logan Act and asserted that Pelosi “actually broke laws” after agreeing with a caller's suggestion that Pelosi's trip was a greater offense than Don Imus' racist, sexist remarks on his April 4 radio show.

From the April 10 broadcast of Fox News Radio 600 KCOL's Ride Home with The James Gang:

CALLER: God help our country if we feel like what this -- this radio personality made an offhanded comment and we're gonna make a bigger deal out of that than an elected official going over there and openly denying the president of the United States of America. It, it, it's just unbelievable to me. I don't know what this country's coming to. I don't know where we're going. But I am telling you we're on the downhill side. And if, if something -- if the people do not stand up and do something about this, we're all screwed. And I'm telling you, that's, that's really all I got to say about it. But it, it's just disgusting to me. I can't believe that our United States, our great country, has sunk this low. I just cannot believe it.

JAMES: (Caller), don't wait so long to call again next time, OK?

CALLER: All righty.

JAMES: All right. Thanks, sir. Have a good, have a good day.

CALLER: You --

JAMES: 17 after five. Fox News Radio 600 KCOL. And yes, he's got it right. He's got it right. The fact that we are flaying and crucifying and, and lynching Imus far more than we did Nancy Pelosi, who, by the way, actually broke laws. It's called the Logan Act; look it up. She will never be persecuted for it. Imus broke no law. He exercised his First Amendment rights.

Finally, during a guest appearance on the April 10 Peter Boyles Show, conservative talk show host Lars Larson repeated the baseless claim that Pelosi's purported conduct of “foreign policy on behalf of the United States [was] illegal for her to do.”

From the April 10 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

LARS LARSON: Now, calling somebody a sissy -- I, I, I, I try and stay away from the name-calling myself in large part. I mean, I talked about Nancy Pelosi at, at, at length the other night, because she'd gone out and she'd sold out America. She decided to do foreign policy on behalf of the United States, which is actually illegal for her to do. But I stayed away from the name calling, 'cause it just weakens my argument. But again, as you point out, Imus runs a different kind of show.