The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes announced the launch of lawfaremedia.org. Visit lawfaremedia.org to view Wittes’s full welcome and explore the new site.

On the Lawfare Podcast, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Alina Polyakova, Matt Tait, and Dmitri Alperovitch to discuss the Wagner group’s military aggression and then sudden stand down in Russia. They covered this weekend’s events, their implications for Vladimir Putin’s regime, and possible effects on the war in Ukraine.

Quinta Jurecic, Gia Kokotakis, Eugenia Lostri, and Tyler McBrien discussed Yevgeny Prigozhin’s notable activities prior to his mutiny against the Russian Ministry of Defense, focusing on his leadership of the Internet Research Agency and the organization’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

On Rational Security, Jurecic sat down wit Alan Rozenshtein, Scott R. Anderson, and Eric Ciaramella to discuss the week’s biggest national security events, including Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny in Russia and its abrupt end, the tragic sinking of a boat off the coast of Greece that killed hundreds of migrants, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. Harper.

Olivia Hoff and Moshe Klein explained the recent Supreme Court decision in Counterman v. Colorado, which held that in order for a person to be convicted of making a true-threat, prosecutors must establish that the defendant understood their communication could be perceived as a threat, regardless of their intentions. 

Rozenshtein assessed the Supreme Court opinion issued in Counterman v. Colorado, arguing that the court’s obligation for specific intent rather than recklessness when prosecuting an individual for communicating a violent threat will make prosecution against former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot significantly less likely.

Anna Bower sent a dispatch from what was supposed to be the arraignment of Walt Nauta today in United States v. Donald Trump and Waltine Nauta, but was ultimately delayed due to Nauta’s inability to travel to Miami and hire local counsel in time for the hearing. 

Stephanie Pell countered the argument that former President Donald Trump should be tried in the District of Columbia rather than the Southern District of Florida (SDFL) by analyzing the SDFL’s past experiences with cases involving classified information.

Roger Parloff responded to claims that former President Donald Trump’s indictment is an unequal application of justice, as Hillary Clinton was not indicted for mishandling classified information in her emails while she was secretary of state.

Katherine Pompilio shared a report from the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs that details the intelligence failures of federal law enforcement in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. 

On the Lawfare Podcast, Jack Goldsmith sat down with Sean Mirski to discuss his new book, “We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus.” They discussed the United States’s forever wars during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the goals and implications of these military campaigns, and the foreign policy lessons they demonstrate today.

McBrien shared a report by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Fionnuala Ní Aoláin following her visit to the United States and U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, as well as the U.S. government’s reply to her report.

Ania Zolyniak compared and contrasted the Irish Data Protection Commission's order against Meta to stop transferring EU user data and proposed sweeping bans on TikTok in the United States. She argued that U.S. lawmakers should construct a comprehensive national data regulation framework that grants internet users greater rights over their data.

Eric Halliday and Manal Cheema discussed whether civilians can sue military personnel for violations of their constitutional rights. They surveyed decades of legal history on the topic and concluded that damages claims against the military or National Guard by civilians face—and will continue to face—little chance of success. 

On the Lawfare Podcast, Lostri sat down with Bulelani Jili to discuss African countries’ procurement and employment of surveillance tools from China. They discussed the supply and demand factors influencing surveillance technology use in Africa, civil liberties risks accompanying these technologies, and how all this fits into the U.S.-China competition.

McBrien sat down with Nosmot Gbadamosi to discuss South Africa’s diplomatic dilemma as to whether it is obligated to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Summit this August, South Africa’s “nonsensical alignment” since the war in Ukraine began, and more.

In this week’s installment of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Kim Cragin argued that the Biden administration’s transition to over-the-horizon counterterrorism has removed crucial building “blocks” while not strengthening others, leading to the destabilization of the U.S. counterterrorism effort.

On the Lawfare Podcast, Jurecic and Rozenshtein sat down with Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, to discuss Meta’s approach to transparency for users and researchers,  Clegg’s controversial essay on interactions between Meta’s algorithms and user preferences, and more.

Jesse Lieberfeld and Neil Richards discussed how secret government searches for users’ stored digital information violate both the Fourth Amendment and the norm that people have a right to be notified when government agents access their information. They concluded that Congress should grant protections similar to the Wiretap Act to stored communications searches and courts should require notice for digital searches. 

Tom Johansmeyer assembled industry-wide estimates for cyber re/insurance premiums and coverage outstanding, arguing that a better understanding of the size of the cyber insurance market could improve cybersecurity strategy. 

Lostri shared a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the National Cyber Director detailing cybersecurity investment priorities for the fiscal year 2025 budget.

And on Chatter, Shane Harris sat down with Scott Shapiro to discuss hacker movies, the portrayal of hackers in Hollywood, and Hollywood’s depiction of the art and culture of hacking.

And that was the week that was.