As a non-expert trying to figure out if there is anything to all this—my own meager understanding is that the Logan Act is kind of a dead relic except for talk about it. I read that there were only two indictments ever issued for it, and zero convictions, with the last attempt being in 1852. And I have also read that in 1062 a Federal court mentioned in passing they thought it would not survive a constitutional challenge.
Er 1964 was when the court mentioned that opinion, not 1062 (typo).
Correct, it is only a distraction.