The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Benjamin Wittes argued, in conversation with Quinta Jurecic and Natalie Orpett, that criticism of the Justice Department's investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack fails to recognize that sizable federal investigations are lengthy processes, and that the department’s actions so far indicate that prosecutors are methodically building their case from the bottom up.

Jurecic and Orpett, in conversation with Wittes, argued that the Justice Department is too narrowly conceptualizing its responsibilities and, as such, is failing to do enough to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.

Rohini Kurup and Jonathan Shaub discussed a recent Justice Department filing about testimonial immunity of presidential advisers, which they argue offers clues about why Peter Navarro faces prosecution for contempt of Congress while Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino do not.

Benjamin Pollard shared a livestream of the eighth in a series of hearings held by the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Elena Kagan shared an episode of Lawfare No Bull which featured audio from the Jan. 6 committee’s eighth public hearing:

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Wittes, Orpett, Jurecic, Molly Reynolds, and David Priess discussed the Jan. 6 committee’s eighth public hearing. They talked about where this hearing fit in with the larger story the committee was telling, what they learned that was new, what they learned that was duplicative, and what the committee is going to do between now and when its hearings resume in September:

Katherine Pompilio shared a Justice Department Statement of Interest supporting the House select committee’s subpoena of former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Tyler McBrien sat down with Tamar Hallerman to discuss the Fulton County special grand jury investigating potential criminal interference into Georgia’s 2020 elections:

Howell also shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Scott R. Anderson sat down with Ned Foley to discuss a set of election reforms put forward by a bipartisan group of senators last week:

Howell also shared an episode of Rational Security in which Anderson, Jurecic, and Alan Rozenshtein sat down to discuss the week’s big national security news, including President Biden’s trip to the Middle East, the Georgia investigation into misconduct in the 2020 election, and more:

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Priess sat down with Katarina Tacz to discuss Swedish and Finnish security as the two countries await NATO membership:

Arthur Traldi analyzed the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention and its use by authorities in the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic to charge captured fighters in Ukraine with mercenarism.

Nicholas Weaver envisioned how the U.S. government could design and manufacture low-cost drones to provide to Ukrainian forces.

Pollard shared an executive order issued by President Biden, which declares a national emergency to deal with the issues of wrongfully detained U.S. nationals and hostage-taking abroad, and reinforces existing means of deterring and imposing costs on those responsible for wrongful detention and hostage-taking.

Christian Bale argued that the Biden administration could reduce the federal deficit by preventing the Pentagon from sending “wish lists” to members of Congress.

Kathleen Claussen and Timothy Meyer evaluated views on the role of the executive branch and Congress in trade executive agreements.

Stephanie Pell argued that the government should be more transparent about how it interprets its existing surveillance authorities and Fourth Amendment obligations in the context of its efforts to improve the nation's cybersecurity.

Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson discussed the debate and complexities around combating child sexual abuse on end-to-end encrypted services.

Stacey Gray argued that the American Data Privacy and Protection Act would provide protections that are stronger than state protections, establishing a strong national standard for privacy.

Chris Riley and Susan Ness argued that modularity is the best possible path toward creating a global internet with platform accountability.

Stewart Baker shared an episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast in which he sat down with Tatyana Bolton, Jamil Jaffer, and Megan Stifel to discuss the first Cyber Safety Review Board Report and other recent cybersecurity law developments:

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Evelyn Douek and Jurecic sat down with Evan Greer to discuss the role of Section 230 protections on liability for speech about abortion post-Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

Howell also shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Jacob Schulz sat down with Ryan Scoville to discuss how subnational diplomacy has allowed China to acquire advanced U.S. technology:

Jordan Schneider shared an episode of ChinaTalk in which he and Lizzi Lee sat down with Joseph Torigian to discuss Torigian’s new book, “Prestige, Manipulation and Coercion, Elite Power Struggles in The Soviet Union and China After Stalin and Mao”:

Priess shared an episode of Chatter in which Shane Harris sat down with novelist Daniel Silva to discuss Silva’s career, his writing process, and how he created the Gabriel Allon spy series:

And Hyemin Han shared a decision from the International Court of Justice asserting its jurisdiction to rule on a case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar for its alleged genocide against its Rohingya population.

And that was the week that was.