Chris Van Hollen’s El Salvador Visit May Violate the Logan Act — and Trigger Criminal Charges
Senator Chris Van Hollen’s sudden trip to El Salvador to try to free deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia may have been illegal.
Van Hollen traveled to the Central American nation on Thursday to meet with Abrego Garcia and lobby for his return to the United Statesm despite the fact that he is not a citizen.
Legal experts and conservative commentators are increasingly arguing Maryland Democrat may have violated The Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized diplomacy with foreign nations.
The 1799 statute, named after Pennsylvania Senator George Logan, bans communication with foreign officials “with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.”
The Logan Act was previously weaponized by Democrats to harass President Trump’s former National Security advisor Michael Flynn.
While punishment involves a fine or imprisonement of up to three years, nobody has ever been convicted under the act, which is largely seen as symbolic.
The American Accountability Foundation sent a letter to Senate leadership on Thursday highlighting the Trump administration’s evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has connections to the violent transnational gang MS-13, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
“Mr. Abrego-Garcia is essentially an enemy combatant in the ongoing invasion of the United States by transnational gangs,” AAF President Thomas Jones wrote to the heads of the Senate Ethics Committee and Majority Leader John Thune, in a letter obtained by The New York Post.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence, Senator Van Hollen decided that he would use Senate funds to fly to El Salvador and advocate for an enemy of the United States,” the letter said.
I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return. pic.twitter.com/U9y2gZpxCb
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 18, 2025
The AAF is also calling on Thune to direct the Secretary of the Senate to deny funding for Chris Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador and is urging the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Van Hollen for violations of The Logan Act.
“Van Hollen was in El Salvador meeting with leaders of the Salvadorian government to attempt to secure Mr. Garcia’s release,” Jones wrote in the letter.
“It is hard to imagine a more hostile intrusion into U.S. foreign policy than attempting to smuggle a foreign enemy combatant into the United States.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was living in Maryland before being deported to El Salvador last month, one of roughly 260 suspected gang members removed under President Trump’s invocation of the 18th-century Alien and Enemies Act.
Similar deportation efforts have since been blocked by Democratic judges and even the Supreme Court.
On Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer denied requests by House Democrats also to visit El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia.
If you also wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money,” he wrote in a letter to Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida.
”But I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested.“
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