Was Robertson's Chavez threat criminal?

On the books, there's this midemeanor:

"Whoever willfully -- (1) ... threatens ... a foreign official ..., [or] (2) attempts to... threaten ... a foreign official ... shall be fined under this titled or imprisoned not more than six months, or both." Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 112(b)

and this felony:

"Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 875(c)

For more check out, "Was Pat Robertson's Call For Assassination Of A Foreign Leader A Crime? Had He Been a Democrat, He'd Probably Be Hiring A Criminal Attorney" by John W. Dean.

UPDATE [2005-08-27 15:38:01]: More from Paul Levy on the IP list:

Sorry, but John Dean's argument in the linked article is ridiculous. Robertson did not suggest that he was going to assassinate Chavez, or participate in a scheme to do so. He was complaining that his government was not using its capability to do that. Mere advocacy of government action, no crime under the statute.