The Week That Was

Quinta Jurecic reviewed “Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation,” by Aaron Zebley, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein. Jurecic found fundamental issues with Zebley et al’s presentation, suggesting that the book represents a lacking attempt to adequately explain the shortcomings of the Mueller probe.

Roger Parloff examined the Justice Department’s decision to oppose Ryan Wesley Routh’s—the would-be golf course assassin of former President Donald Trump—motion for Judge Aileen Cannon to be recused from his case in the Southern District of Florida.

On Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. ET, Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wittes talked to Parloff and Jurecic for this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations.” If you would like to be able to submit questions to panelists and watch livestreams without ads, become a material supporter of Lawfare. It was livestreamed on YouTube for all other viewers. The recording is available on Lawfare’s YouTube channel and on the Lawfare Podcast feed.

Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith reaffirmed the need to reform presidential conflict-of-interest laws following the erosion of norms during Donald Trump’s presidency. Bauer and Goldsmith warn that, without amendments to enforce transparency and prevent conflicts of interest—such as legal prohibitions on targeted conduct and requiring public disclosures of government officials’ tax returns—these norms will continue to atrophy.

Elena Chachko and Katerina Linos discussed the use of emergency powers in the United States and the European Union. Chachko and Linos contended that, despite previous examples of executive overreach and civil liberties violations, emergency powers can and should be used—under limited circumstances—for considerable good through reform and societal transformation.

Ben Green and Parloff shared the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia’s opinion rejecting the appeal of Jan. 6 defendant Couy Griffin to overturn his conviction of a misdemeanor trespassing charge.

Olivia Manes shared a briefing from the National Intelligence Council that outlines potential foreign influence threats to U.S. elections.

Katherine Pompilio shared a White House memorandum on artificial intelligence (AI) and national security. 

Parth Nobel, Alan Z. Rozenshtein, and Chinmayi Sharma discussed the differences between “open-source” software and “open-access” artificial intelligence (AI) models. The trio warned that applying the former term to AI models such as Llama 3.1 may be misleading, and could even harm discussion and regulation of these models, since they are much less “open” than the name may suggest.

On Lawfare Daily, Kevin Frazier sat down with Mark Chinen to discuss the latter’s recent work on international human rights law (IHRL) as a framework for artificial intelligence (AI) governance. The pair explored the potential of IHRL to address AI-related challenges, the implications of recent developments like the Council of Europe’s AI treaty, the intersection of philosophy, divinity, and AI governance, and more.

Justin Sherman discussed the physical safety and security threat that the unregulated data broker industry may pose to government employees, the various methods that malicious actors may use to acquire and exploit personal data, possible regulations on data brokerage, and more.

In the latest installment of Lawfare’s Security by Design series, Edouard von Herberstein discussed possible safeguards against cyber risk, arguing that a federal backstop would not be a cure-all, potentially exacerbating issues if not deployed alongside a combination of solutions, such as the establishment of foundational cybersecurity best practices, cooperation through data, knowledge sharing, and more.

In this week’s installment of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren broke down the latest news, including the EU’s new product liability “hand grenade,” a $50 million crypto hack against finance platform Radiant Capital, Session Manager’s hasty relocation to Switzerland, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Eugenia Lostri sat down with Sam Kessler to talk about his recent investigation into how North Korean IT workers are infiltrating the crypto industry. Lostri and Kessler discussed the red flags that companies should be looking out for, why the crypto industry is particularly vulnerable, the connection between these workers and the North Korean hacking arm, and more.

Liliya Khasanova examined how global crises, or “shocks,” have precipitated data regulations at the global, regional, and national levels. Khasanova considered how different policy fields shaped the perception, discussion, and regulation of data privacy amid shocks such as Edward Snowdon’s classified data leaks in 2013, the COVD-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and more

On Lawfare Daily, Frazier sat down with Hunter Marston to discuss the economic and geopolitical significance of the South China Sea. Frazier and Marston explored the latter’s extensive knowledge of Southeast Asian politics and history to paint a comprehensive picture of why the next U.S. presidential administration should pay close attention to this geographical hotbed of political tension.

Also on Lawfare Daily, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Sarah Yerkes and Sabina Henneberg to discuss the recent elections in Tunisia, which saw increasingly authoritarian President Kais Saied returned to office with a purported 91 percent of the vote. The group discussed the elections' lack of credibility, how they have been received by U.S. and other foreign officials, what they say about the trajectory of democracy in Tunisia and elsewhere in the Middle East, and more.

In this week’s installment of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Tricia Bacon and Elizabeth Grimm analyzed Hezbollah’s struggle to appoint a new leader following the death of Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, the effects of ongoing Israeli operations on the situation, the potential formation of a splinter group under different leadership, and more.

On Rational Security, Anderson was joined by Tyler McBrien, Anna Hickey and Dan Byman to talk over the week’s big national security news, including Israeli forces’ killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, tensions between Canada and India, and more.

Michael Sinclair responded to the Secretary of the Air Force’s announcement of “sweeping plans for reshaping, refocusing, and reoptimizing the Air Force and Space Force.” Sinclair suggested that the Department of the Air Force must reorganize its legal support to better accommodate geopolitical shifts.

On Lawfare Daily, McBrien sat down with Atossa Araxia Abrahamian to discuss her new book, “The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World.” The pair touched on her hometown of Geneva, Switzerland, which she described as "a place defined by a certain placelessness,” as well as Abrahamian’s concept of the "hidden globe"—a network of unconventional spaces like embassies, freeports, tax havens, container ships, and remote archipelagos that form the lifeblood of the global economy. McBrien and Abrahamian also discussed the origins of "extraterritorial domains" in places such as Mauritius, Dubai, Svalbard, Roatán, Boten, and even outer space.

On Chatter, Frazier sat down with legal scholar Sandy Levinson to discuss the fragility of the Constitution. Frazier and Levinson explored how Sandy's thinking about the need for a wholesale revision of the Constitution has evolved, whether or not the Supreme Court is the most important decision-maker in American society, the impact of constitutional amendments on the state level, and more.

And to support Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump Trials—a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump in Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia—please consider making a contribution here. Lawfare’s talented correspondents and analysts discuss the latest developments in the cases, explain the complex legal issues they raise, and consider what might come next in a wide range of content, including written analysis, podcasts, live and recorded virtual events, primary source document repositories, and infographics.

And that was the week that was.