Raffaela Wakeman works at the Brookings Institution, focusing on law, American politics, and governance issues. She graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, and wrote her Master’s thesis on electoral design in the Middle East. She is currently a law student at Georgetown University Law Center.
William P. Barr (former Attorney General), Jamie S. Gorelick (former Deputy AG), and Kenneth L. Wainstein (former Assistant AG for National Security) have this Times op-ed on the AP subpoena controversy. They write:
While neither we nor the critics know
On the Lawfare menu this week was a lot of discussion of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, docket updates in a number of related court cases, detention matters, surveillance law, two new podcasts, and quite a … Read more »
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General released an interim report on the Department’s handling of “known or suspected” terrorists who have entered the government’s witness protection program. The report found, among other things, that information on some program participants had … Read more »
There’s been a flurry of Lawfare posts on today’s hearing, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. The video of the hearing can be viewed here, and we’ve got links … Read more »
On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to discuss potential revisions to the 2001 AUMF. The Hill’s Jeremy Herb reports; here’s the hearing announcement. Jack is set to testify.
Chris Strohm of Bloomberg writes that … Read more »
Many thanks to Ritika for taking the Roundup wheel, so to speak, while I was out of the office for a few days.
David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth have this important piece in the New York Times on cybermatters. The … Read more »
I have emerged from my undisclosed location to bring you this week at Lawfare, which saw a lot of detention-related commentary, a serious dose of Ben critiquing Harold Koh, analysis of U.S.-versus-China in cyberattack-rhetoric, and miscellaneous posts about forthcoming … Read more »
I’m emerging temporarily from my undisclosed location to get you caught up on this week’s Lawfare happenings.
Detention-related matters made up most, but hardly all, of the week’s writings. There were posts about the investigation into the Boston bombing suspects, … Read more »
Developing Boston news: three additional suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the case, according to this tweet released by the Boston Police. The reporting is scant thus far; we hope to have more later. UPDATE #1[12:47 … Read more »
Forty Navy medics arrived at GTMO on Monday as the GTMO hunger strike population exceeded 100 detainees. Carol Rosenberg reports at the Miami Herald.
The investigation into the Boston bombing continues: the FBI visited Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s in-laws, and collected… Read more »
MSNBC counts the total number of GTMO detainees participating in the hunger strike at 100. Reuters reporters David Ingram and Jane Sutton examine court consideration of prison hunger strikes in the past and find that judges typically find in favor … Read more »
Much of this week’s Lawfare commentary concerned the recently-filed case against Boston bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev. But that’s not all. Among other things, we noted critical developments in Guantanamo cases, criminal as well as civil. And we posted pieces about … Read more »
As Wells and Ben wrote yesterday, the D.C. Circuit granted the government’s petition for rehearing en banc in U.S. v. Bahlul. Today, the accused’s counsel asked the court to clarify instructions it issued in granting en banc review.
The D.C. … Read more »
The Boston attacks lead the news. The New York Times and the Washington Post report on the Tsarnaev brothers’ online activities and non-links to foreign terrorist cells, respectively. At the same time, Senate Intelligence Committee members voiced concern about … Read more »
As Greg McNeal noted, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights is holding a hearing this afternoon on the targeted killing program entitled “Drone Wars: The Constitutional and Counterterrorism Implications of Targeted Killing.”… Read more »
There is a plethora of analysis, debate, and speculation about the capture of suspected Boston bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev. Drake Bennett at Bloomberg talks about the facial recognition technology that might have been used in the FBI’s search, and reminds us … Read more »
It’s kind of a cliche to observe that it’s been quite a week. Having spent five years in Boston and at the ‘Tute, I was pained to see my old stomping ground start to resemble a war zone during these … Read more »
Here is the MIT student newspaper The Tech‘s report on last night incidents. Too much is in flux to summarize the developments in Boston, so I’m going to leave that to the Twitter list and news links that Alan … Read more »
Senator Robert Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, and President Obama were sent envelopes that tested positive for ricin—a known toxin. More tests will be conducted on the materials.Here are NPR and the New York Times on Senator Wicker’s envelope, and the … Read more »
Guantanamo detainees’ hunger strike took a violent turn over the weekend, with prison guards using force in order to subdue the detainees. There are many stories, including Peter Finn’s at the Washington Post, Charlie Savage’s at the New York … Read more »
All of Lawfare, that is, except for Today’s Headlines and Commentary, as it seems silly to round up what is itself a roundup.
Let’s start with detention, Guantanamo, habeas, and related matters: Wells shared the latest in the emergency … Read more »
Charlie Savage of the New York Times shares our disappointment that the Al Nashiri military commission hearings slated for next week have been postponed. So does Peter Finn of the Washington Post. Judge Pohl ordered the delay after defense counsel … Read more »
Now available in redacted form: the government’s opposition brief and the defendant’s reply in United States v. Ghailani, a criminal case arising from the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and now pending before the Second Circuit. … Read more »
Let’s start with big news in the Bradley Manning case. The presiding military judge, Colonel Denise Lind, ruled that in order to convict Manning on Espionage Act charges, the prosecution must show that he had “reason to believe” that the … Read more »
Just a few days ago, the counsel for military commission defendant Abd al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al Nashiri filed a motion for a continuance, requesting that the four days of hearings slated for next week be delayed. The prosecution opposed … Read more »
At the Atlantic, the New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti discusses where he gets his news. Thanks for the shout-out to Lawfare, Mark! We read your work, too.
The White House released its 2014 budget request today. Spencer Ackerman points … Read more »
North Korea’s social media accounts were hacked yesterday by Anonymous, not that any of that country’s citizens would know about it. Here’s the BBC on all of that.
Marc Maiffret, Chief Technology Officer at enterprise security management company BeyondTrust, penned … Read more »
Seven years of negotiations yesterday came to a close, when the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the Arms Trade Treaty (“ATT”). Colum Lynch of the Washington Post says the NRA will do its damnedest to stop the Senate from signing … Read more »
Google’s come out with a brand-new product. All I can say is, “Wow. Why didn’t we think of that?”
You ought to read Peter Finn’s detailed Washington Post story about Ahmed Warsame’s interrogation, Mirandizing, and cooperation. Regarding the … Read more »
Nicole Perlroth and David Sanger have this New York Times report on recent cyberattacks against the private sector. The strikes main aim is not to disrupt companies’ activities or collect their trade secrets, but instead to destroy the victims’ capabilities … Read more »
Public Service Announcement: Change.org has a petition which asks Google to save Google Reader. It boasts over 145,000 signatures thus far. Just sayin’ —since, you know, Ritika and I depend on Google Reader, in bringing you each day’s dose of … Read more »
Another day, another leak: Greg Miller of the Washington Post tells of a secret, if year-old, report by the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The report found that the intelligence community must change course because it has become, according to Miller, … Read more »
Military commission accused Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulaiman al-Bahlul has submitted his response to the government’s petition for rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit. In January, a 3-judge panel of that court vacated al-Bahlul’s conviction for conspiracy. The Department of Justice … Read more »
Afghan President Hamid Karzai won a small victory in his negotiations with the United States: U.S. Special Operations forces will pull out from Wardak province, where—according to Karzai—elite teams had tortured and killed civilians. (The U.S. denies the allegation). Here’s… Read more »
Filed March 14th in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii: a criminal complaint against a civilian defense contractor, Benjamin Bishop, for unlawfully leaking national security secrets to his girlfriend. The latter, a Chinese national, allegedly works for the People’s Republic … Read more »
Tomorrow is a significant day—the ten-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Here’s NPR’s All Things Considered’s story, including an interview with Bush national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
Senator Lindsey Graham, one-third of the Three Amigos, says … Read more »
Wednesday on the Senate floor, three senators spoke about the Obama administration’s decision to prosecute, in a federal court, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte and Lindsey Graham unsurprisingly opposed this … Read more »
First up: U.S.-Afghanistan talks, as reported by Karen DeYoung and Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post. According to them, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has lambasted the United States’ refusal to transfer, to Afghan custody, certain detainees at Bagram prison. But … Read more »
First, a public service announcement: I join my fellow news followers, journalists, and blog junkies in exasperation over Google’s announcement that it is “retiring” Google Reader. My only hope is that you, Lawfare readers, don’t also suffer as a result … Read more »
The DNI has released the latest report, accurate as of January 2013, but only released this month, on the reengagement of former Guantanamo detainees. The DNI is required to release the report under the 2012 Intelligence Authorization Act. Here’s … Read more »
This morning was the Senate Select Intelligence Committee’s open hearing on worldwide threats to the United States. Witnesses included DNI James Clapper, newly-minted CIA Director John Brennan, NCTC Director Matthew Olsen, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of the DIA Lt. … Read more »
Today, President Obama’s National Security Advisor, Thomas E. Donilon, spoke at the Asia Society about U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Interestingly, he specifically addressed the cyber threat from China—and thus broke with recent practice. According to the New York … Read more »
Transcripts: they’re not just for reading anymore. Yesterday, when I posted the transcript of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director, I assumed that our readers would appreciate reading what the senator and his … Read more »
As you no doubt already know, Kentucky’s junior Senator, Rand Paul, on Wednesday filibustered John O. Brennan’s nomination to be CIA Director for thirteen hours (with help, in part, from his Senate colleagues).
He commenced his marathon like so:
Madam
On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and, unsurprisingly, was questioned about the Obama administration’s targeted killing policy. On the subject of U.S. citizen targeting, Holder told the panel to expect more from President Obama, … Read more »
Last June, a collection of advocacy and religious organizations, businesses, and individuals in New York City and New Jersey filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York, alleging the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) “illegal targeting of … Read more »
Over the weekend some media reported that AQIM bad guy Mohktar Belmokhtar had been killed in northern Mali. But military leaders won’t confirm the terrorist’s death, according to Adam Nossiter of the New York Times. Apropos, the Belfast Telegraph reports… Read more »
I’ll do my best not to mention the “S-word” in my roundup today.
Yesterday, Bradley did indeed plead guilty to 10 of the charges leveled against him. The Guardian has the full text of his in-court statement. The New York … Read more »
The Wall Street Journal reports on news coming from China’s Ministry of Defense that it and another military website have been hacked on average 144,000 times a month last year. Two-thirds of these attacks allegedly came from within the United … Read more »
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
William P. Barr (former Attorney General), Jamie S. Gorelick (former Deputy AG), and Kenneth L. Wainstein (former Assistant AG for National Security) have this Times op-ed on the AP subpoena controversy. They write:
While neither we nor the critics know the circumstances behind the prosecutors’ decision to issue this subpoena, we do know from the government’s public disclosures that the prosecutors were right to investigate this leak
