Trump sent gay lackey Richard Grenell to Serbia in “possibly illegal” trip
The White House dismissed Donald Trump's claims of an "envoy ambassador," but some have accused Grenell of breaching the Logan Act
Last year, Richard Grenell became the first openly gay person to hold a cabinet-level position after then-President Donald Trump named him to be temporary acting director of national intelligence. And in February, the former ambassador to Germany considered a run for governor of California.
Now Grenell, who frequently wades into debates over the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ record, is being accused of “criminal” conduct after he was declared to be an “envoy ambassador” by Trump.
On Thursday, the twice-impeached ex-president announced that he had sent Grenell to the Kosovo-Serbia border, the Advocate reports.
“Today, my Envoy Ambassador Ric Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border to highlight this important agreement,” Trump said in a statement.
“The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake.”
The statement, and Grenell’s trip, made waves on social media, with many highlighting the Logan Act, which criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the U.S.
At a press conference in Balkans, Grenell told reporters that he’d met with government officials as a “private citizen” because he was “frustrated” with how the Biden administration was handling the region’s economic normalization agreements.
“Many of the Trump administration and many Americans are frustrated because we saw a historic agreement, an economic one, which we agreed on for the people of Kosovo and the people of Serbia is not respected,” Grenell said.
However, this claim doesn’t entirely match with a tweet from Ilir Meta, president of Albania, who also met with Grenell.
Meta said it was a “pleasure” to have Grenell “in Albania and in my office.”
“His commitment in support of the further strengthening of the relation and collaboration between Albania and the United States is greatly appreciated,” Meta tweeted.
On Twitter, commentators questioned the validity of Grenell’s claims about an economic agreement brokered by the Trump administration.
“I can find no evidence that there is any new Serbia Kosovo economic agreement,” journalist Laura Rozen tweeted. “Theory: Grenell called Trump and told him he was on Kosovo Serbia border and credited Trump with achieving something that may not exist?”
Mark Hertling, former Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army, called Trump and Grenell’s actions “pretty bad, and possibly illegal.”
Richard Signorelli, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused Trump and Grenell of “criminal” conduct.
“This is criminal,” Signorelli tweeted. “Trump & Grenell must be held accountable & prosecuted before further harm is done to our country.”
Tristan Snell, a former assistant attorney general in New York who worked on the case against Trump University, tweeted that Trump’s statement wasn’t “just a potential Logan Act violation; Grenell was already dispatched to Kosovo.”
“The crime would appear to have been not just attempted but completed. Plus conspiracy too,” Snell added.
The White House responded to Grenell’s trip and Trump’s email, telling The Advocate, “Outside of his very active imagination, Donald Trump is no longer President and doesn’t have any ‘envoy ambassadors’ representing the United States.”
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