Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday made these remarks at the University of California Berkeley School of Law’s Commencement. In addition to the normal graduation-speech fare, he said the following:
How we respond to such adversity – as leaders, as lawyers,
The freshly unsealed criminal complaint was filed sometime yesterday. (The complaint’s attachments—a supporting affidavit and cover sheet—can be found here and here.) And it appears that Bobby’s prediction proved correct: the charges include one count of using a … Read more »
The more I reflect on last week’s drone contretemps–and what effect the efforts of Senator Paul and his followers has had / may still have on U.S. policy–the more I have a profound and distressing sense of déjà vu. After … Read more »
Earlier today, I posted a thoughtful essay by Benjamin Kleinerman arguing with respect to Eric Holder’s recent testimony on domestic drone strikes that, “as obvious as the targeting of American citizens might be in [the most] extraordinary situations, it does … Read more »
Benjamin Kleinerman of Michigan State University, one of the most interesting political theorists to write in the Lawfare-space, sent me the following thoughts on prerogative and killing Americans domestically. This is a subject Kleinerman treated at length in his … Read more »
Without wanting to shoehorn my way into Ben’s invaluable service in keeping the country safe from errors in New York Times editorials, I too wanted to raise something about today’s editorial, “Repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force.” Midway … Read more »
Senator Paul has an op-ed this morning that repeats many of the misrepresentations of the administration’s positions that were contained in his filibuster. It also contains in a nutshell one reason why this issue has been so hard to resolve: … Read more »
The Washington Post, meanwhile, has this excellent editorial on Rand Paul’s filibuster and openness in the drone program:
AFTER SEN. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) held the Senate hostage Wednesday in order to warn that American citizens could be targeted by drone
According to this Talking Points Memo piece, Attorney General Eric Holder today sent another letter to Senator Rand Paul, regarding the latter’s inquiries on the executive branch’s authority to conduct domestic drone strikes against U.S. citizens. The note seems … Read more »
Carrie Cordero, Georgetown’s Director of National Security Studies and a former Justice Department official, writes in with the following useful compilation of administration warnings about the effects of sequestration on national security:
One might think it would have been
This week, Attorney General Eric Holder and DCIA nominee John Brennan both responded, separately and in writing, to Senator Rand Paul’s inquiry regarding the government’s authority to use lethal force against an American citizen within the United States, and without … Read more »
In writing my testimony for today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and targeted killing of U.S. citizens overseas, I found myself writing a more complete explication of the essential legal rationale underlying the administration’s position on the subject than … Read more »
Georgetown professor Anthony Clark Arend – old friend to many of us at Lawfare – has a new short post on whether judicial oversight of drones would be a good idea – or constitutional. He is skeptical on both … Read more »
Here’s a counter-intuitive view of the White Paper–from the always-interesting Andrew Kent:
Although many critics with a strong civil liberties and human rights bent deplore the DOJ White Paper for various reasons, there is actually something in there they should
(Updated and extended.) The White Paper’s reference to imminence has occasioned some heated rhetoric about the Obama administration stretching the notion beyond all possible ordinary meaning or bounds, etc. But it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s nothing new in … Read more »
Okay, everyone, take a deep breath. Chill out. The DOJ’s “White Paper” on targeted killing is no big deal. Really.
You wouldn’t know this from reading the somewhat breathless press coverage of the document, much of which offers a reasonable … Read more »
There’s certainly a lot to say about the DOJ white paper on targeted killings, much of which has been said already (and well) by others (see Raff’s “Headlines and Commentary” post for links). At the risk of being unintentionally … Read more »
The New York Times has a news analysis piece by this morning the excellent Charlie Savage, which requires a moment’s reflection. Charlie is about as good a reporter as there is out there on Lawfare-related matters, and he has … Read more »
An informed observer in the executive branch writes in response to Bobby and my post of earlier today on Eric Holder’s decision to continue the appeal in Al Bahlul:
Let me offer for your consideration an alternative explanation for
John Brennan, nominated by President Obama to become the next CIA director, will apparently face some tough questioning from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) at his Senate confirmation hearings (reportedly set for Thursday, February 7, 2:30 pm). Sen. Wyden has sent … Read more »
We refrained last week from expressing much opinion on the decisions by both Military Commissions Chief Prosecutor Mark Martins and by the Justice Department in the Al Bahlul case concerning how to handle stand-alone inchoate conspiracy charges after Hamdan II… Read more »
Steve and Marty make what seem to me very valid legal arguments in response to Jonathan Hafetz’s post on Opinio Juris, in which Jonathan argues that the Feinstein Amendment’s principal effect would be to embed citizenship-based distinctions (in this … Read more »
Writing at the New York Times web site, Eric Lewis of Lewis Baach, describes a human rights agenda for the Obama administration’s second term:
First, he must release certain Guantánamo detainees, who have never been charged or tried. Of
I have now had time to read Tom Junod’s lengthy essay in Esquire to which Ritika linked the other day. Entitled “The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama,” it combines the form of a reported essay with a different form–one I … Read more »
Speaking of national security issues that seemed to have dropped off of the public’s radar screen, this headline beckons the reader to an article in The Atlantic, written by Andrew Cohen and posted over the weekend:
Why not
From the Blog of the Legal Times, we learn that the ACLU has filed its opposition to the CIA’s motion to remand, in the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) appeal now awaiting oral argument before the D.C. Circuit.
In … Read more »
Jack and Ben earlier noted the government’s long-awaited brief in support of its motion for summary judgment in New York Times Co. v. Department of Justice and ACLU v. Department of Justice, the consolidated FOIA actions now pending in the … Read more »
The scope of the leak investigations announced by Attorney General Holder yesterday remains unclear. Holder appointed U.S. Attorneys Ronald Machen and Rod Rosenstein to “direct[]separate investigations currently being conducted by the FBI.” But he did not say what those investigations … Read more »
Here is his statement:
“Today, I assigned U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr. and U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein to lead criminal investigations into recent instances of possible unauthorized disclosures
Back in March (so, well before John Brennan’s new remarks on the issue), my friend and colleague Mike Lewis from Ohio Northern and I participated in a “teleforum” debate for the Federalist Society on the targeted killings issue, especially as … Read more »
Ken and Ben have recently commented on the national security speeches of Obama Administration officials, including most recently the remarks of CIA General Counsel Stephen Preston. As a former Bush Administration official who would like to encourage more bipartisanship on … Read more »
Earlier this week I published a piece on the Foreign Policy page that defended the legal infrastructure for the Obama’s administration’s targeted killing program. At the end I made the following proposal as a way for Congress to help the … Read more »
The more I think about Attorney General Holder’s defense of targeted killings in his speech @ Northwestern last Monday–and the various reactions thereto–the more confused I become. To be sure, this confusion may merely be a testament to my … Read more »
Well, it’s the Sunday after the attorney general’s address on targeted killing, so naturally, we awaken to a New York Times editorial blasting the speech:
President Obama, who came to office promising transparency and adherence to the rule of law,
I join Ben’s praise for the Attorney General’s speech.
The Administration has done a good job in the speeches by Harold Koh, Jeh Johnson, John Brennan, and now the Attorney General in laying out a comprehensive and reasonably detailed explanation … Read more »
One brief (but significant) point that thus far has gone largely unnoticed in the wide coverage of yesterday’s speech by Attorney General Eric Holder is his invocation of the Supreme Court’s Mathews v. Eldridge balancing test for assessing how much … Read more »
My former colleagues on the Washington Post editorial page have weighed in quickly on Eric Holder’s speech yesterday with an editorial entitled, “It’s Time to Release the Drone Memos.” The gravamen of the editorial, as the title suggests, … Read more »
In this post, I focus on the portion of the speech addressing the targeted use of lethal force, including against US citizens. To cut to the chase, the heart of the discussion comes when the Attorney General articulated a multi-factor … Read more »
As promised, Attorney General Holder delivered an address on law and national security today at Northwestern Law. The speech covered an array of topics, including a defense of the legitimacy of military commissions, a strong argument for the importance—from a … Read more »
In late January, Daniel Klaidman reported that the administration was inclined to have Attorney General Holder give a major speech specifying additional details regarding the legal framework governing the use of lethal force against Anwar al-Awlaki. That time has now … Read more »
Two streams of detention-related legal argument came together at the Senate Judiciary Committee today, as AG Holder answered questions from Senator Graham. Their colloquy blended the question of the fate of GTMO with the narrower, but increasingly contentious, question of … Read more »
The invaluable Josh Gerstein of the Politico offers these important pieces of the legislative politics puzzle surrounding the Kelly Ayotte amendment, which I wrote about here and here:
The vote, taken just after 1 a.m. Friday, broke largely along
The Kelly Ayotte amendment I discussed yesterday was voted down late last night, reports the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted early Friday to reject a Republican effort to prohibit the United States from prosecuting foreign terrorist suspects
Josh Gerstein at the Politico is reporting:
The Obama administration is invoking the state secrets privilege to seek dismissal of part of a lawsuit brought by Muslims who claim that the FBI conducted sweeping unconstitutional surveillance of Southern California
Shane Harris of Washingtonian magazine has a lengthy profile on the magazine’s web site of William Welch, who is the Justice Department’s point man on leaks cases. It’s a hard-hitting and unflattering piece that suggests that Welch is over-aggressive and … Read more »
Eric Holder, the Politico is reporting, has now said that it would have been lawful to shoot Bin Laden even if he had tried to surrender:
Holder initially said the U.S. team “obviously” should have accepted if bin Laden
NPR’s Carrie Johnson is reporting that Attorney General Eric Holder has spoken out strongly on behalf of Paul Clement:
To the list of prominent lawyers defending former Solicitor General Paul Clement’s decision to leave his law firm and keep defending
Two quick comments on today’s New York Times editorial:
First, the Times begins with a remarkable normative assertion: “In bringing justice to those accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, it will never be possible to have military trials … Read more »
Yesterday, I wondered how the New York Times would treat Attorney General Holder’s announcement of a military commission trial for the September 11 conspirators: “Will the Times praise Holder for respecting the rule of law by holding the 9/11 conspirators … Read more »
I am really–and I mean really–looking forward to the New York Times editorial on Holder’s announcement. Specifically, I’m looking forward to seeing how the Times thinks Holder should have acted given its insistence that (a) military commission trials are … Read more »
Friday, May 24, 2013
Coverage of President Obama’s speech yesterday is plentiful: Here are Peter Baker of the New York Times, Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller of the Washington Post, and Mark Mazzetti of the Times with an analysis of the key points of the speech. Scott Wilson of the Post also provides a rundown of the speech, and cites Ben. The Associated Press reports on lifting the transfer ban on Yemeni detainees, and Colleen McCain Nelson, Adam Entous, and Julia E. Barnes… Read more »
