Today at 4 pm ET, watch Natalie Orpett, Roger Parloff and James Pearce a judge dismissing the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James, ruling that Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed to served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. https://youtube.com/live/XxySL8HTZMQ?feature=share
Does the president have the constitutional authority to deploy active-duty forces domestically, free from the constraints of the Posse Comitatus Act? If and when the Supreme Court considers this question, the answer “should be an emphatic ‘no,’” writes Christopher Mirasola.
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Confronting the Protective Power
The president’s theory of constitutional authority to deploy active-duty troops is more dangerous than the government’s briefing suggests.
Lawfare has a new landing page where you can find Anna Bower, Roger Parloff, and Molly Roberts's courtroom dispatches in the litigation surrounding actions from the Trump administration. Check it out: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/litigation-coverage/trump-administration-trial-coverage
FBI Director Kash Patel announced that for the first time ever, the Bureau had indicted 'Antifa-aligned' individuals. Eric Columbus digs into the charges to understand the administration's efforts to target its ideological adversaries.
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What’s Up With the Terror Indictment Against Alleged Antifa Members?
The Justice Department’s tacked-on charges are just for show. The larger plan is not.
On Lawfare Daily, Kate Klonick spoke to Richard Pildes about his article, “Political Fragmentation in Democracies in the West,” the link between smartphones and social media and threats to democracy, and the unique way this technology is now impacting the United States political system.
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Lawfare Daily: How Social Media Threatens Democracy, with Rick Pildes
Discussing the link between social media and threats to democracy.
History demonstrates why the administration’s approach of “strategic uncertainty” is unlikely to produce better deals, write Samuel Seitz and Caitlin Talmadge.
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Why Trump’s Madman Act Doesn’t Work
The administration’s approach of “strategic uncertainty” is unlikely to produce better deals.
Lawfare's Litigation Tracker is currently following 233 active cases challenging actions from the Trump administration, including the attempt to suspend SNAP benefits and federalization of National Guard in Illinois. Check it out at lawfaremedia.org/trumptracker.
Today, Letitia James's attorneys filed a motion asking the court to curb prosecutors’ extrajudicial statements, following Lawfare Senior Editor Anna Bower’s recent article recounting a Signal exchange with U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. Read the motion, from Tyler McBrien.
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Letitia James Asks Court to Curb Prosecutors Extrajudicial Statements
Lawfare Senior Editor Anna Bower’s recent article recounting a Signal exchange with U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan precipitated the motion.
On Oct. 11, Anna Bower started to receive Signal messages from the U.S. attorney who is leading the prosecution of Letitia James. Throughout the exchange, Lindsay Halligan complained about Bower’s tweets and reporting on the indictment–but never once asked to be off the record.
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“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”
My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
In late September, California became the first U.S. state to enact legislation specifically aimed at regulating advanced AI systems when Gov. Newsom signed SB 53. Lam Tran explains the main pillars of SB 53 and where it sits within the larger AI regulatory landscape.
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Governing Frontier AI: California’s SB 53
As the U.S.’s first state law regulating advanced AI systems, the bill could provide a blueprint for a coherent national framework.