The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

On Monday, President Trump nominated Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the D.C. Circuit to succeed Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Senate Democrats and critics of the nomination have alleged that Kavanaugh’s expressed positions on investigating presidents are unacceptable; Benjamin Wittes reviewed Kavanaugh’s writings on special counsels and came to a different conclusion. Stephen Bates, who served on Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s team with Kavanaugh, provided insight into Kavanaugh’s role in drafting the Starr Report. And Peter Margulies responded to an op-ed by Steve Vladeck in the Washington Post, analyzing Kavanaugh’s military commissions rulings.

Dan Maurer was thinking about the military commissions too: Considering the Supreme Court’s ruling in Ortiz v. United States, Maurer identified an argument that the parties, the amici, and the court did not make. And on the National Security Law Podcast, Robert Chesney and Steve Vladeck discussed the retirement of military commissions Judge Vance Spath, arguments in Doe v. Mattis, and more:

In technology news, Greg Nojeim gave a deep-dive into the implementation issues presented by the Cloud Act. Andrew Grotto and Christos Makridis offered potential legislative solutions to the problem of protecting personal identifying information from cybertheft. And Cameron Kerry contributed his views on the need for a legislative fix to data protection.

On the Cyberlaw Podcast this week, Stewart Baker interviews former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden:

It was a rough week to be a European leader. Shannon Togawa Mercer argued that recent British government resignations signal that there’s little hope for a “hard” Brexit. Paul Rosenzweig asked whether the U.K. can rescind its withdrawal from the EU. Matt Waxman reflected on the debates that led to NATO’s summit in Brussels this week. And in its wake of the tumultous meeting, Jen Patja Howell posted this week’s episode of Rational Security: the “With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends?” edition:

David Stanton and Wenqing Zhao presented a roundup of recent U.S.-China tech policy and law news in this week’s edition of SinoTech. Daniel Rosenthal flagged how a recent CFIUS approval should give foreign investors new hope. Megan Reiss and Paul Rosensweig updated Lawfare readers on the War of the Twitter Bots.

Jacob Hofstetter identified a flaw in the Trump administration’s view of aid funding for Central American countries. Jen Patja Howell posted Tuesday’s Lawfare Podcast, a conversation with Paul Rosenzweig and Carrie Cordero on the bureaucratic and policy implications of proposals to #AbolishICE.

Dana Stuster wrote on the Assad regime’s capture of a strategic city, the Trump administration’s approach to Middle East peace, and why Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new cabinet is scaring investors in this week’s Middle East Ticker. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Yuval Shany analyzed a recent Israeli district court decision on detention.

Chimene Keitner reviewed new books from Ronan Farrow and James Dobbins.

Evelyn Douek analyzed Australia’s new law aiming to protect from foreign interference in domestic politics.

Kimberly Marten described how Russia’s use of private security groups is blurring the lines between sovereignty and force.

And to round it all out, Friday the 13th brought with it Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s second indictment of Russian nationals for attempting to interfere in the 2016 elections. The Lawfare team provided an analysis. And Matthew Kahn posted an emergency episode of the Lawfare Podcast, featuring Susan Hennessey, David Kris, Paul Rosenzweig, Matt Tait and Benjamin Wittes.

And that was the week that was.