The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Benjamin Wittes talked to Roger Parloff, Anna Bower, and Alan Feuer on Lawfare Daily about the Georgia Court of Appeal’s order staying trial court proceedings in the Fulton County case, what Judge Cannon has been up to in the Southern District of Florida, and more. 

On Lawfare Daily, Natalie Orpett spoke to Benjamin Wittes, Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Tyler McBrien about their experiences covering Trump’s New York trial. They discussed what it was like to be present in the courtroom and why Lawfare’s coverage of the trial was unique.

Lee Kovarsky analyzed the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s felony conviction, refuting claims of trial manipulation and bias by Justice Juan Merchan and discussing the most likely avenues for appeal.

Grant Tudor and Justin Florence assessed the constitutionality of a presidential self-pardon in context of a potential second Trump presidency, highlighting Supreme Court precedent constraining pardon power and preventing self-judging.

For another episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations,” Anna Hickey, Benjamin Wittes, and Quinta Jurecic discussed former President Donald Trump’s probation meeting, expectations for upcoming Supreme Court decisions related to the Trump trials, and recent developments in the Florida classified documents case and the Fulton County case.

Anna Hickey shared Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte’s letter responding to Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)’s accusations of Justice Department involvement in the New York prosecution of former president Donald Trump, dismissing the claims as false and irresponsible.

Matt Gluck shared the new Bilateral Security Agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, which includes provisions for intelligence sharing, economic cooperation, anti-corruption reforms, and, in the event of an attack against Ukraine, a commitment to decide appropriate defensive measures.

Jack Goldsmith discussed the Bilateral Security Agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, arguing that it primarily consists of non-binding terms and vague promises and lacks substantive commitments.

Curtis Bradley, Jack Goldsmith, and Oona Hathaway assessed how effective Congressional transparency reforms for executive agreements that took effect in September 2023 have been, and provided recommendations for what still needs to be done. 

Also on Lawfare Daily, Benjamin Wittes spoke to Natan Sachs about the resignation of Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, the future of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, and Israeli opinions on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

In the latest for Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Raphael Cohen examined the impact that the recent arrest warrants filed by the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan against senior Israeli government officials could have on achieving peace in the Israel-Gaza conflict. 

On Lawfare Daily, Scott Anderson spoke to Gabor Rona and Natalie Orpett to discuss, in the context of Israel’s actions in Gaza, whether a state can adhere to international humanitarian law and simultaneously violate the Genocide Convention.

Matt Gluck shared the United Nations Human Rights Council’s report examining violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law from all parties in the Israel-Hamas war. 

Lily McElwee argued that high-level economic talks with China could assist U.S. decoupling efforts and reduce risks of Chinese retaliation if they probe Beijing’s economic plans, clarify trade restrictions, and press for cooperation on global challenges.

On Lawfare Daily, Matt Gluck spoke with Sean Mirski and Aaron Sobel about the Eighth Circuit’s decision to revive part of Missouri’s coronavirus-related lawsuit against several defendants linked to the Chinese government.

On Lawfare Daily, Kevin Frazier and Quinta Jurecic sat down with Charlotte Willner and David Sullivan to discuss content moderation in the age of AI, the evolution of content moderation, and the effects of relatively recent regulations, such as the EU’s Digital Services Act, on trust and safety work.

Paul Rosenzweig discussed how policymakers could look at the economic concept of “least cost avoider” to put responsibility for content moderation on non-platform actors, such as security services or cloud service providers.

Mailyn Fidler argued that to more effectively combat spyware makers and users complicit in human rights abuses, the U.S. should shift from an export control regime to a sanctions-based approach underpinned by the Magnitsky Act.

Matt Gluck shared the Office of the National Cyber Director’s report summarizing the responses to its request to develop a “framework for reciprocity for baseline requirements with interagency partners.”

Lennart Maschmeyer analyzed cyber operations conducted by Russia-sponsored hacking groups during the Russia-Ukraine war, highlighting the success that cyber operations that merged traditional subversion methods have had in comparison to cyberattacks alone.

Tom Uren analyzed the report “From Vegas to Chengdu,” by Eugenio Benincasa, which explores how the Chinese government leverages civilian talent for state-sponsored cyber operations, highlighting the significant role of a few Chinese researchers in vulnerability discovery.

On Rational Security, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Scott Anderson, Alan Rozenshtein, and Quinta Jurecic to talk about the week’s big national security news stories. They discussed the resignation of Benny Gantz from Israel’s war cabinet, California’s potential AI safety law and its First Amendment implications, and Emmanuel Macron’s call for snap elections in response to far-right gains in the European Parliament.

On Chatter, David Priess sat down with Paul Sparrow to discuss his new book, “Awakening the Spirit of America,” about the war of words between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh.

Christina Knight reviewed Ian Johnson’s, “Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for Their Future,” a book that describes how many Chinese historians and journalists preserved China’s true history against the Chinese Communist Party’s tight control and censorship.

And on April 3, Lawfare announced an auction item on the Givebutter campaign—the “Black Hole of Awful” Post-It by Jurecic, a one-of-a-kind Lawfare sketch born from a conversation with Wittes that illustrates the extent to which trial delay is advantageous to Trump. Place your bids to support Lawfare’s Trump Trials coverage. You can also support Lawfare’s Trump Trials coverage by making a contribution here. 

And that was the week that was.