The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Benjamin Wittes argued that the House Judiciary Committee’s (HJC) draft FISA Section 702 reauthorization bill would functionally repeal Section 702 and significantly damage the intelligence community’s effectiveness.

Alex Joel and Robert S. Litt discussed how the expanded prohibition on reverse targeting in the Wyden and HJC Section 702 draft reauthorization bills would dramatically reduce the efficacy of Section 702. 

Preston Marquis and Molly E. Reynolds discussed the two competing Section 702 reauthorization bills the House of Representatives was set to consider and the unusual “queen of the hill” legislative maneuver that almost played a major role in crowning the victorious one. 

On the Lawfare Podcast, Stephanie Pell sat down with Marquis, Reynolds, and Wittes to discuss the HJC and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Section 702 reauthorization bills, some of the key differences between the bills, the abnormal politics surrounding this reauthorization process, and more:

Tyler McBrien argued that U.S. intelligence sharing with Israel should receive just as much scrutiny as U.S. arms transfers to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. 

Adam Klein discussed a new paper series led by the University of Texas’s Robert Strauss Center on how the U.S. and nine other democracies oversee their intelligence collection efforts. 

Katherine R. Seifert and Carter Burwell discussed the novelty, importance, and substance of proposed bipartisan legislation to reform the government’s system for classifying and declassifying information.

Caleb Benjamin shared the Air Force Inspector General’s report into the unauthorized leaks of classified information from the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing. 

Carrie F. Cordero and Katherine L. Kuzminski discussed the obstacles preventing the Department of Defense from scanning potential new service members’ social media for sympathy for domestic violent extremism.

In an installment of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Tricia Bacon discussed the resurgence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and argued the U.S. should work with Pakistan to degrade the TTP before it grows and becomes more difficult to counter.

On the Lawfare Podcast, Hyemin Han sat down with Ben Saul to discuss his appointment as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, his priorities for his tenure, his perspective as Special Rapporteur on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and more:

Ashley Deeks and Matthew Waxman examined the constitutional and international law questions raised by a potential use of U.S. force against drug cartel members or drug labs in Mexico. 

Steve Vladeck discussed special counsel Jack Smith’s petition to the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari “before judgment” in United States v. Trump, the court’s decision to grant cert. in Fischer v. United States, and the potential implications of both for former President Donald Trump. 

Anna Hickey shared special counsel Smith’s petition requesting the Supreme Court determine the extent of Trump’s presidential immunity. Hickey also shared a motion for expedited review filed by the government in the D.C. Circuit to prevent delay of Trump’s Jan. 6 trial.

On this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations,” Wittes sat down with Bower, Roger Parloff, and Vladeck to discuss the special counsel’s petition for cert in United States v. Trump, the court’s decision to weigh in on Fischer v. United States, Fulton County updates, and more:

On Lawfare No Bull, Benjamin shared edited audio of the Dec. 6 Colorado Supreme Court oral arguments in the appeal of voters’ petition to disqualify Trump from the state’s ballots under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The arguments centered on whether the presidency is an “office…under the United States,” whether the president is “an officer of the United States,” whether Trump engaged in insurrection, and more:

On Lawfare No Bull, Benjamin also shared edited audio of a Dec. 1 hearing in Fulton County, in which Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments from Georgia prosecutors and several of the 15 defendants on a number of motions related to First Amendment concerns, the scheduling of an eventual trial, discovery matters, and general and special demurrers:

On the Lawfare Podcast, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Bower, Parloff, and Wittes to discuss Judge Tanya Chutkan’s denial of Trump's motions to dismiss his D.C. criminal case, where the various Trump disqualification suits stand, updates from Fulton County, and more:

On the Lawfare Podcast, Wittes sat down with Eric Ciaramella and Reynolds to discuss Ciaramella’s recent trip to Kyiv, the state of the Ukraine aid package in Congress, whether a deal on the border is possible, and if such a deal could pass the House: 

Matt Ince and Erin Sikorsky discussed how the transition to clean energy will likely upend established power dynamics and create new geopolitical instability risks.

On the Lawfare Podcast, Han sat down with Sikorsky to discuss the resolution signed at the end of COP28 where nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels for the first time in COP history, the deal’s final language, what else happened at COP28, and more:

On the Lawfare Podcast, Eugenia Lostri sat down with Ana Iparraguirre to discuss Argentina’s eccentric new president—self described anarcho-capitalist libertarian Javier Milei, his rise to power, if and how he can deliver on his campaign promises, and what that would even mean for the Argentinian people:

Chinmayi Sharma argued for the professionalization of artificial intelligence (AI) engineers to ensure safety is not sacrificed as commercial interests increasingly control AI development.

Benjamin shared a U.S. Government Accountability Office report on government agencies’ implementation of AI.

On Rational Security, Anderson and Quinta Jurecic sat down with McBrien to discuss U.S. weapons and intelligence assistance to Israel, the special counsel’s cert petition in United States v. Trump, President Joe Biden reportedly telling donors that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must go if Israel is to retain international support, and more:

On Chatter, Shane Harris sat down with Rick Beyer to discuss the “Ghost Army” of artists, visual designers and sound engineers created in 1944 to deceive German forces about the location and size of U.S. military units, the ghost army’s role in the storied history of intelligence deceptions, and more:

And it is time for our annual “Ask Us Anything” podcast, an opportunity for you to ask Lawfare editors and contributors this year’s most burning questions. If you would like to submit a question, please do so by Dec. 18.

And that was the week that was.