The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Benjamin Wittes responded to accusations from many Republican officials claiming that rhetoric depicting former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy was partially responsible for the attempt on his life. Wittes pointed out that Trump himself has helped cultivate a climate of political violence in America and emphasized that while the former president was a victim of a horrible crime, he remains a corrupt authoritarian and a threat to democracy.

Seamus Hughes contextualized the assassination attempt within the broader trend of rising political violence. He claimed that increasing threats and attacks against public officials are straining the American democratic system, advocated for enhanced Secret Service procedures and legislative fixes, and echoed President Joe Biden’s plea to “lower the temperature in our politics.”

Katherine Pompilio shared Judge Aileen Cannon’s order dismissing the government’s case against Trump in the Southern District of Florida, determining that Special Counsel Jack Smith had been unlawfully appointed.

On July 15, Wittes sat down with Anna Bower, Natalie Orpett, Quinta Jurecic, and Alan Rozenshtein for a live discussion about Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case.

In the aftermath of the dismissal of the classified documents case, Andrew O’Donohue discussed his research examining whether and how Jack Smith’s prosecution was able to influence public opinion.

On July 18, Wittes was joined by Bower and Roger Parloff for this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations.” They discussed the consequences of Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case, among other topics, and took questions from Lawfare material supporters.

On Rational Security, Scott Anderson, Rozenshtein, Jurecic, and Orpett discussed the week’s most significant national security news stories, including the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the dismissal of the classified documents case, Trump’s selection of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to be his running mate, and more. 

Kori Schake summarized the national security-related components of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) 2024 platform, pointing out the ways in which the RNC has departed from traditional Republicanism and embraced Trumpism.

Ned Foley argued that—contrary to what many critics have said about the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States—the immunity ruling is unlikely to prevent Trump’s prosecution for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and it does not protect future presidents from prosecution for dangerous acts.

Samuel Woolley and Inga Trauthig explained how U.S. political campaigns are leveraging generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. They emphasized that GenAI creators’ self-regulation will not effectively prevent malicious and illegal uses of the technology, and they called on Congress to draft federal legislation that guides fair campaigning and curbs political misuse of GenAI.

On Lawfare Daily, Mary Callahan spoke with Kevin Frazier about a recent Department of Homeland Security report about the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. They also discussed enforcement gaps in existing biological and chemical regulations and efforts to enhance AI expertise within the federal government.

On Lawfare Daily, Frazier spoke with Rebecca Crootof about efforts to weaponize emerging technologies. They discussed the potential for an artificial intelligence arms race, the importance of multidisciplinary research, and what is needed to establish guardrails around new technological uses.

On Lawfare Daily, Eugenia Lostri spoke with Lennart Maschmeyer about his new book, “Subversion: From Covert Operations to Cyber Conflict.” They discussed the promise of subversion as an instrument of power, the tradeoffs required for covert operations, how current doctrine should consider cyber capabilities, and more.

In a paper for Lawfare’s Security by Design series, Shane Miller recommended U.S. public policy initiatives to integrate memory-safe programming languages like Rust into existing systems to overcome barriers to adoption.

Jim Dempsey, Steven Lipner, and James Lewis discussed the new process requiring companies supplying “critical software” to the federal government to attest to certain software security practices.

In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren discussed the collaboration among Western agencies to report on Chinese cyber activities, Russian social media manipulation, a red team operation by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and more.

Julien Berman shared the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on Israeli settlement in Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Olivia Flasch—in anticipation of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) releasing the Palestine Advisory Opinion—discussed the ICJ’s fact-finding challenges, noting its heavy reliance on UN documentation, and emphasized the need for a more proactive and comprehensive approach to obtain accurate and complete information.

Larry Johnson criticized a proposal to establish a United Nations trusteeship to govern post-conflict Gaza, predicting that Palestinians, the Israeli government, and the U.S. government would all oppose such a plan. Instead, Johnson recommended that governments should consider other options to govern Gaza—including a UN Security Council-established transitional authority.

Anastasiia Lapatina argued that despite the passage of the recent Ukraine aid package, U.S. military aid to Ukraine has been slow and insufficient, failing to significantly impact fighting at the frontlines. She emphasized that most funds allocated to Ukraine do not go directly to Kyiv and instead are used within the American economy to support domestic weapons production.

On Lawfare Daily, Matt Gluck spoke with Michael Beckley and Arne Westad about the U.S.-China strategic relationship. They discussed how the U.S. should engage with China, the economic interests of the two countries, strategies to deter China from invading Taiwan, and more.

In this week’s edition of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Kelly Grieco and Jennifer Kavanagh argued that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s claims of a “new convergence” between the U.S. and its Indo-Pacific allies are overstated, noting complications that result from the region’s vast geography and maritime environment.

Preston Marquis reviewed “The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq” by Steve Coll, which examines the U.S.-Iraq relationship from the Iranian Revolution to Saddam Hussein’s downfall.

On Chatter, David Priess sat down with Chris Kempshall to discuss the intersection of real-world history and the Star Wars universe. They talked about the influence of World War I on video games, George Lucas’s use of history, the extensive Star Wars lore, and more.

And to support Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump Trials—a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump in Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia—please consider making a contribution here. Lawfare’s talented correspondents and analysts discuss the latest developments in the cases, explain the complex legal issues they raise, and consider what might come next in a wide range of content, including written analysis, podcasts, live and recorded virtual events, primary source document repositories, and infographics.

And that was the week that was.