The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Let’s begin with L’Affaire Russe. Quinta Jurecic shared the House intelligence committee Democrats’ rebuttal to the Devin Nunes memo. She and Benjamin Wittes offered three key takeaways from the rebuttal, arguing that President Trump was wrong to describe it as a “total political and legal BUST.”

Wittes posted the Rational Security podcast, the “Downgraded” Edition. The podcast addressed, among other things, Jared Kushner’s security clearance and Democrats’ rebuttal to the Nunes memo:

David Kris pointed out the terrible irony behind the Nunes memo: that it attempted to deceive Americans in the same way it alleged the FBI deceived the FISA Court.

Gabriel Schoenfeld discussed the obstruction statute at the heart of the special counsel investigation.

Bob Bauer explained the significance of the president’s latest attack on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, stating that it is anything but “old news.”

In preparation for oral arguments in United States v. Microsoft, Matthew Kahn summarized the lower court rulings, each side’s argument, and what Lawfare’s writers have said. Andrew Keane Woods summarized and analyzed the oral arguments.

Jonah Force Hill and Matt Noyes discussed a paper they published for New America proposing a new framework for data flow controls.

Evelyn Douek contended that new European regulations governing Facebook highlight the need to consider social media platforms in their global context.

Chris Mirasola summarized the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which will take effect on May 25.

Susan Landau argued that we should conceive of data breaches as national security threats because personal information about private individuals can be weaponized against the state.

In response to Robert Chesney and Danielle Citron’s breakdown of the threat posed by “deep fakes,” Herb Lin offered a technological solution to the problem that the pair failed to consider.

Stewart Baker posted the Cyberlaw Podcast, which consisted of a news roundup:

Chesney and Steve Vladeck shared the National Security Law Podcast:

Paul Rosenzweig explained how Broadcom’s looming attempt to take over Qualcomm could threaten U.S. national security.

William Ford posted the livestreams of and prepared testimonies from House and Senate hearings on national security and cybersecurity, including NSA director Mike Rogers’s revealing testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Chris Mirasola summarized new developments in Chinese cybersecurity regulations.

Robert Williams shared his most recent essay for the Aegis Paper Series, “The ‘China Inc.+’ Challenge to Cyberspace Norms.”

Phil Caruso described the rise of Chinese human intelligence campaigns in the U.S.

Julian Ku explained the implications of the U.K.’s support for American Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea and Britain’s intention to undertake its own FONOP.

Ku also argued that the Taiwan Travel Act is significant because it provides the Trump administration with the necessary cover to permit high-level contact between American and Taiwanese officials.

Continuing Lawfare’s coverage of the Middle East this week, Daniel Byman offered six counterrorism lessons from the Syrian conflict.

Pavel Baev argued that Russia’s Syria policy has become weaker and more indecisive.

Megan Reiss flagged an undisclosed U.N. report outlining sanctions evasion by Syria and North Korea through the illicit weapons trade.

Kristin Smith Diwan argued that Qatar will not undertake substantial domestic reforms given the instability created by the Gulf crisis.

Ford posted Sen. Bernie Sanders’s joint resolution on Yemen and the response of the Defense Department General Counsel.

Eliot Kim summarized the Second Circuit’s decision in Linde v. Arab Bank.

Robert Loeb and Sarah Grant argued that the Eastern District of Virginia’s ruling in Al Shimari, et. al. v. CACI highlights the need for further guidance from the Supreme Court concerning the Alien Tort Statute.

John Farmer, Jr. and Edward Neafsey examined why the president has backed away from his previous support of torture.

Idit Shafran Gittleman suggested that the debate surrounding an amendment to the IDF’s “Joint Service Order” reflects broader questions about the role of women in Israeli society.

Elena Chachko discussed the constitutional implications of a potential indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Scott Anderson described the military commissions’ exceptionally dysfunctional past month and placed these concerning developments in their political context.

Chesney contended that the government should prosecute terrorists in civilian courts rather than at the military commissions.

Keith Whittington argued that the New York district court’s order on the president’s suspension of DACA reveals the crucial importance of departmentalism and the perils of judicial supremacy.

Williams outlined the risks posed by the broad conception of national security espoused by two new Commerce Department reports.

Brenna Gautam summarized a Commerce Department report on the impact of steel and aluminum imports on national security and a Government Accountability Office report on its adoption of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework.

Wittes posted the Lawfare Podcast, a discussion with Judge Stephen Williams about his new book on Vasily Maklakov, “The Reformer: How One Liberal Fought to Preempt the Russian Revolution”:

Kahn shared another edition of the Lawfare Podcast, a discussion between Wittes and Dan Radosh about “Liberty Crossing,” Radosh’s new sitcom about intelligence analysts at NCTC:

Lawfare’s editors announced the next Hoover Book Soiree, a discussion between Jack Goldsmith and Niall Ferguson on Mar. 14 about Ferguson’s new book, “The Square and the Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power.”

And that was the week that was.