Former Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson is, at this hour, giving this speech at Fordham Law School in New York:
Keynote address at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School:
A “Drone Court”: Some Pros and Cons
by
About a month ago, I posted a draft paper my colleague Dan Byman and I had put together about the different tools the United States uses to go after citizens waging war against it from abroad. In the crush of … Read more »
Judge Garland’s persuasive opinion in the ACLU FOIA case is important but narrow, and its significance for intelligence community transparency is entirely unclear.
Recall that the CIA had refused to respond to the ACLU request for records pertaining to drone … 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 »
The New York Times editorial page has still not corrected its error of the other day, when it promoted John Brennan to National Security Adviser. But that hasn’t stopped our friends over there from making some new doozies in … 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 »
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 »
Readers by now know this much: Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz harbor great anxieties about possible drone strikes against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil—chiefly against citizens who pose no imminent threat to our national security. And their concerns apparently … Read more »
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 »
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
Recall that Senator Paul asked John Brennan whether he believed the President “has the authority to order lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without a trial?,” and that John Brennan and … Read more »
As the New York Times reports, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been speaking on the Senate floor since before noon in an effort to filibuster the nomination of John Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism advisor and nominee to lead … Read more »
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 »
Over at at the Emptywheel blog, Ms. Wheel colorfully asks of yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing: “Boy, what fucking idiots run DOJ (and, presumably, the Obama Administration generally)”? She goes on, marveling at the administration’s stupidity for refusing to … Read more »
I noted last week than in his answer to the question whether the Obama administration could “carry out drone strikes inside the United States,” John Brennan gave this non-response: “This Administration has not carried out drone strikes inside the United … Read more »
The recent controversy about the Justice Department White Paper and the closely related Senate confirmation hearings for CIA director-nominee John Brennan have raised the profile of congressional intelligence oversight. A brief summary of some of these issues is this Politico … Read more »
They are available here. Lots of interesting stuff on a first quick read, but two thing stand out. First, in response to the question “Could the Administration carry out drone strikes inside the United States?,” Brennan gave this non-response, … Read more »
Speaking of the John Brennan confirmation hearing, here’s the video, courtesy of CSPAN:
John Bellinger and Christoper Anders of the ACLU this morning had a discussion of John Brennan’s testimony, drone strikes, and the administration’s legal positions on CSPAN’s Washington Journal this morning. Please note which web site a CSPAN banner referred readers … Read more »
Ben Emmerson, the Special Rapportuer for Human Rights who is conducting an inquiry into the legality of (among other things) U.S. drone strikes, and who has suggested that the United States might have committed war crimes, has told Spencer … Read more »
They can be found here, and (as is typical, and from the nominee’s perspective, desirable), they contain little news.
In response to Question 7 on the CIA’s paramilitary role, Brennan says: “The CIA, a successor to the Office of … Read more »
So reports Politico’s Jennifer Epstein and Josh Gerstein:
President Obama has reversed course and agreed to provide the congressional intelligence committees with classified Justice Department legal advice authorizing the use of drones to kill U.S. citizens abroad, two administration
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 »
Daniel Klaidman, author of the indispensible Kill or Capture (providing an inside glimpse into the evolution of the Obama administration’s approach to counterterrorism in its first few years), today posted this profile of John Brennan in advance of his upcoming … Read more »
I’m pleased to report that a group of former Obama Administration lawyers (including yours truly) has just submitted to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence a letter expressing our strong support for John Brennan’s nomination to be Director of the … Read more »
Columbia Law School scholar and former State Department lawyer Rebecca Ingber has posted to SSRN a new article forthcoming in the Yale Journal of International Law, “Interpretation Catalysts and Executive Branch Legal Decisionmaking.” Abstract:
Recent years have seen much
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 »
Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta delivered a wide-ranging address on December 18, 2012 at the National Press Club in Washington DC on the United States’ overall national security strategy. The speech was part valedictory lap prior to Panetta stepping … Read more »
As Wells and Steve noted last week, the Senate approved the “Feinstein Amendment” to the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Amendment, if enacted, would impose a clear statement rule for the detention of U.S. citizens and … Read more »
Bobby posted a day ago about an important Wall Street Journal news story talking about the US government considering options for pursuing an increasing active and dangerous branch-franchise-affiliate of Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). They include … Read more »
U.S. Policy Toward Yemen
Speaker: John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Presider: Margaret Warner, Senior Correspondent, “PBS NewsHour”
August 8, 2012
Council on Foreign Relations
MARGARET WARNER: So welcome, everybody. Welcome to
And, you know, some related stuff – like drone strikes and security leaks.
C-Span’s coverage of the speech, which Brennan gave earlier today at the Council on Foreign Relations, is here.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit (Judges Tatel, Garland and Griffith) has rejected the CIA’s motion to remand in ACLU v. CIA, the FOIA action regarding the Obama Administration’s targeted killing program. The appeal thus will be argued on … Read more »
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 »
A correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous point out the following irony. In my recent post on Dan Klaidman’s book, I quoted the following passage:
The discussion continued for close to two hours, with Obama often asking pointed questions
In my post this morning on Hedges, I wondered whether government counsel had made the court aware of the Obama administration’s strong position against military detention for citizens and for anyone captured domestically. The answer appears to be that … Read more »
Now sooner did I complain about the lack of editorial response to John Brennan’s speech on drones than the Washington Post has published this editorial on drone strikes in Yemen. The editorial goes on to praise Brennan’s speech and give … Read more »
It is surprising to me that neither the Washington Post nor the New York Times nor the Wall Street Journal has yet to run an editorial reacting to John Brennan’s extensive and thoughtful speech on drones last week.
A senior … Read more »
Yesterday I posted a lengthy response to Gabor Rona’s critique of the Brennan speech, and Gabor has now replied to my comments. Alas, we seem to be speaking past one another in various ways (for example, I critiqued what I … Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Gabor Rona of Human Rights First offers an extended critique of John Brennan’s speech on the use of lethal force. It is an interesting and provocative post, leading me to share a few thoughts in response.… Read more »
Very glad to have joined the Lawfare team. I look forward to more sustained blogging once the spring grading season is over. For now, I’ll offer just a quick thought on the speech John Brennan delivered yesterday, and on the … Read more »
John Brennan’s speech yesterday was important for at least three reasons: (1) it marked the first official White House acknowledgment that “the United States Government conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qa’ida terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to … Read more »
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
April 30, 2012
Remarks of John O. Brennan – As Prepared for Delivery
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Woodrow Wilson International Center for … Read more »
Last October, I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled “Will Drone Strikes Become Obama’s Guantanamo?” in which I said that “the administration needs to work harder to explain and defend its use of drones as lawful … 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 »
Over the past several weeks, I’ve written a number of blogs about the substance of the cybersecurity bills pending before Congress. As the House moves to consider cyber legislation next week and as the Senate prepares to begin its debate, … Read more »
We now have a collection of speeches from the past two years by the Obama administration’s top lawyers in the national security agencies and departments on targeted killing and (hypothetically speaking) drone programs – DOS, DOD, DOJ, and most recently, … Read more »
Sometimes my friends ask me “how bad is it really?” How bad is the cyber threat? It’s hard to answer that question — and its even harder when the experts can’t reach a consensus. It would be almost impossible to … 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 »
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 »
