The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post
Your weekly summary of everything on the site.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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Jen Patja Howell shared this week’s edition of Rational Security, an episode in which the team reflected on the last day of Donald Trump’s presidency and the first day of Joe Biden’s:
Jacob Schulz explained that the Jan. 6 riot wasn’t the first instance of violence at the Capitol: in 1954, four Puerto Rican nationalist terrorists, later charged with seditious conspiracy, stormed the building and shot at lawmakers.
Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast, in which Dan Byman, Lawfare’s foreign policy editor, spoke with Benjamin Wittes about the unexpectedly peaceful inauguration:
Philip Zelikow presented a practical path to hold Donald Trump accountable for his efforts to overturn the election: Invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which could present a more procedurally preferable option than impeachment. Daniel J. Hemel analyzed how Section 3 of the 14th Amendment could be used to bar former President Trump from holding federal office again. And Gerard Magliocca explained why Section 3 is the best legal framework available to address the Jan. 6 with respect to the eligibility of the riot’s participants to hold public office.
Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast featuring Alan Rozenshtein’s conversation about the Jan. 6 Capitol mob, Section 3 and whether the provision could prevent Trump from running for the presidency again in 2024 with Hemel and Magliocca:
Keith Whittington explained why the First Amendment will not be a legitimate defense against the charge of inciting insurrection during Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Jonathan Rauch argued that there should be serious consideration and discussion of President Biden pardoning former President Trump.
Margaret Colgate Love argued that preemptive pardons are a bad idea on both the giving and receiving end.
Evelyn Douek analyzed Facebook’s recent referral of Donald Trump’s suspension to its Oversight Board, and discussed the enduring impacts of the board’s decision.
Susan Hennessey and Rohini Kurup argued that the vote to grant secretary of defense nominee General Lloyd Austin a waiver, which overrides the statutory requirement limiting recent active military duty officers from the job, is a significant decision on how the statutory requirement will be used in the future.
Tia Sewell shared livestreams of Senate confirmation hearings for several of Biden’s cabinet nominees: Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin III to serve as defense secretary; Antony Blinken as next secretary of state; Alejandro Mayorkas to be secretary of homeland security and Avril Haines as the next director of national intelligence.
Jen Patja Howell shared this week’s edition of the Lawfare Podcast’s "Arbiter of Truth" series, which featured a conversation with Kate Starbird, to discuss disinformation and misinformation surrounding the coronavirus:
Susan Landau argued that the real problem with contact-tracing apps is the lack of adequate social and public health infrastructure in the United States.
Stewart Baker shared an episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast featuring an interview with Jane Bambauer about the failure of coronavirus-tracking phone apps:
Shira Anderson and Sean Mirski gave an update on the coronavirus-related lawsuits brought against China, which involves mostly things that haven't happend: there have not been many developments of current suits nor any new suits filed.
Jordan Schneider shared an episode of ChinaTalk in which Rana Mitter, a professor of Chinese history at Oxford University, discusses his book “China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism”:
Abby Lemert and Eleanor Runde examined a recent U.S. decision to keep Chinese internet companies available to American investors and analyzed other recent developments in U.S.-China relations in this week’s edition of SinoTech.
Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast featuring an interview with Jeff Kosseff on his recent research paper, the latest installment of Lawfare’s Digital Social Contract series, about the role of private tech companies in helping law enforcement fight child pornography online:
Kosseff shared his paper, entitled “Online Service Providers and the Fight Against Child Exploitation: The Fourth Amendment Agency Dilemma.”
Lester Munson shared an episode of Fault Lines featuring David Adesnik and John Hannah, to discuss the "From Trump to Biden" report detailing the successes and failures of the Trump administration’s foreign policy:
Shamiran Mako explained how discontent among local communities in the District of Sinjar may jeopardize the fragile Sinjar agreement between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, in addition to the region’s stability more broadly.
Victoria Gallegos and Tia Sewell shared a selection of coronavirus-related Biden administration executive actions. Sewell also compiled a selection of President Biden’s executive actions regarding his administration’s immigration policy.
And Sewell also shared President Biden’s executive order establishing his administration's commitment to confront climate change.
Robert Chesney and Steve Vladeck shared an episode of the National Security Law Podcast discussing a multitude of traditional national security law topics:
Bob Hunter and Joe Weiss examined vulnerabilities in operational technology, including the impact of the SolarWinds attack.
Alvaro Marañon shared a recently unsealed criminal complaint against a Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, a political scientist, alleging that Afrasiabi has been acting as a secret agent of the Iranian government for the past 10 years.
Rohini Kurup shared a Justice Department complaint charging a U.S. Army soldier with attempting to help the Islamic State attack American troops stationed overseas.
And Bryce Klehm announced this week’s Lawfare Live, in which Lawfare’s David Priess and Susan Hennessey, along with Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow at Brookings, joined Benjamin Wittes to take questions from site patrons about the first 48 hours of the Biden administration:
And that was the week that was.