The Week That Was

Roger Parloff investigated the government’s contention that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, noting questionable elements of the case such as double hearsay and contradictory documents. Parloff also shared information about Abrego Garcia’s family history, the legal status prohibiting his removal to El Salvador, and more.

Curtis Bradley, Jack Goldsmith, and Oona Hathaway explained why a 2022 statute mandating transparency for certain executive agreements could force the government to disclose any agreement between the United States and El Salvador related to the detention facility.

On Lawfare Daily, Anna Bower and Parloff joined Benjamin Wittes to debrief an April 15 hearing in the case of Abrego Garcia, the man deported by accident to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

On April 18 at 4 p.m. ET, Wittes spoke to Bower, Parloff, Quinta Jurecic, and James Pearce about the status of the civil litigation against President Donald Trump’s executive actions, including Judge James Boasberg's finding of probable cause for contempt in the Alien Enemies Act case.

Jonathan Hafetz explained why the Supreme Court’s ruling that Alien Enemies Act detainees must challenge via habeas increases the risk of unlawful deportations and the abuse of executive power. Hafetz highlighted the limits of notice and due process, rejection of class-wide relief, failure to provide remedies for unlawful transfers, and more.

Wittes highlighted the Trump administration's repeated refusal to comply with court orders regarding the release of Abrego Garcia. Wittes discussed the challenges facing U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis and how she can respond to the government’s display of lawlessness.

Wittes reacted to Judge James Boasberg’s opinion in J.G.G. v. Trump—which finds there is probable cause to find the government in criminal contempt—and considered where the case might go from here.

Anne Joseph O'Connell examined whether the president has authority under Article II to remove inferior officers and to name temporary officials outside the Vacancies Act without Congressional approval. O’Connell argued that accepting these authorities renders the Appointments Clause effectively void.

Nick Bednar broke down the Trump administration’s apparent attempt to pursue deregulation on a massive scale by asserting unilateral authority to rescind regulations and inviting the public to submit suggestions to cut existing regulations.

Tom Wheeler detailed how Brendan Carr’s early actions as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seek to intimidate the media, evade judicial review, and erode agency independence. Wheeler highlighted how the Trump administration is using the FCC’s coercive investigations, weaponization of the public interest standard, expansive interpretation of Section 230, and more to consolidate power.

Renee DiResta explored the parallels between the House Un-American Activities Committee’s (HUAC) “institutionalized persecution” and how some members of Congress use bad-faith investigations to target and blacklist political enemies. DiResta reflected on her own experience in one such investigation and offered lessons institutions under attack can learn from HUAC’s eventual defeat.

On Lawfare Daily, Jurecic sat down with John Keker and Bob Van Nest to discuss why the Trump administration’s attacks on law firms pose a threat to the rule of law, what pressures might move a firm to capitulate, what firms who have chosen to fight executive orders are risking, and more.

Daniel Jacobson and John Lewis examined whether Administrative Procedure Act (APA) litigation over termination of federal contracts and grants lies within the jurisdiction of district courts or the Court of Federal Claims (CFC)—as the Tucker Act and the Supreme Court's recent decision in Department of Education v. California suggest—and highlighted alternative strategies plaintiffs can use to bring APA claims in district court.

Jack B. Greenberg and John A. Dearborn highlighted the difficulty Congress now faces in ensuring independence for officials they intended to be insulated from political pressure, citing Trump’s firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the special counsel, and more.

Ilya Somin—who has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s tariffs on behalf of import businesses—argued that courts should vacate the tariffs because their imposition runs counter to the major questions doctrine and violates constitutional limits on delegation of congressional power to the executive.

On Lawfare Daily, Wittes spoke to Bob Bauer, Bower, Jurecic, Parloff, and Pearce about the status of the civil litigation against Trump’s executive actions, including the Supreme Court’s rulings in the Alien Enemies Act case and in the firing of probationary employees case.

Daniel Byman and Riley McCabe discussed how the April 13 arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence as part of a growing wave of violence directed at politicians and government figures highlights the danger of partisan extremism and jeopardizes political stability.

On Escalation, Anastasiia Lapatina and Yulia Tymoshenko recounted Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They discussed President Joe Biden and Congress’ attempt to send weapons, the tensions that leave the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in jeopardy, and more in this season finale. 

On Lawfare Daily, Natalie Orpett sat down with Jonathan Lowy and Chantal Flores to discuss the recent oral arguments in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson, in which Mexico seeks to hold U.S. gun manufacturers accountable for cartels' use of American weapons. They talked about the flow of U.S.-made guns into Mexico, how it relates to cartel violence, and the complicated legal and policy context around Mexico’s case, and more.

Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany evaluated the ramifications of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempted removal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, suggesting that it could spark a constitutional crisis. Shany and Cohen discussed legal and political concerns in the court proceedings contesting the removal, including the Shin Bet’s current investigation into Netanyahu’s inner circle, whether the government complied with the substantive and procedural requirements of Israeli administrative law, and more.

Justin Sherman explained how adversarial foreign actors exploit gaps in U.S. law to purchase sensitive information from data brokers or other intermediaries. Sherman critiqued the U.S.’s current approach of restricting direct sales of data and called upon the government to develop more robust privacy legislation and data restrictions that close the gap.

In the latest installment of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Georgia Adamson argued that—because of the potential for China to gain backdoor access to critical technologies—the U.S. must exercise caution in considering whether to alter Biden-era export controls to supply the United Arab Emirates with artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Stewart Baker considered whether the U.S. should reverse policies prohibiting commercial and technological spying given China’s long standing practice of economic espionage. Baker evaluated arguments for and against commercial espionage and offered suggestions for a U.S. approach to collecting and distributing intelligence.

On Lawfare Daily, Kevin Frazier sat down with Daniel Kokotajlo and Eli Lifland to discuss a report co-authored by Kokotajlo that concludes that superhuman artificial intelligence will develop within the next decade. 

In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren discussed Trump’s targeting of former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher Krebs, whether China’s leadership is aware of and endorses Volt Typhoon's activities, how Chinese cyber-espionage group MirrorFace abuses Windows Sandbox, and more.

And in a new report for Lawfare’s Research Initiative, Yaya J. Fanusie and Emily Jin argued that U.S policymakers must take measures to reduce the influence of the e-CNY—China’s central bank digital currency—due to the substantial surveillance and privacy risks it poses.

And that was the week that was.