Joshua A. Geltzer is Executive Director and Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a Fellow in New America’s International Security Program. He served from 2015 to 2017 as Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council and, before that, as Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council.
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Responding to the recent bloodshed in El Paso and elsewhere, President Trump laid heavy blame on the internet and then invited social media companies to a White House summit to be held on Aug. 9 to discuss efforts against online extremism.
This post is cross-posted on Just Security.
The United States has long built its approach to counterterrorism based on a fundamental distinction between “international terrorism” and “domestic terrorism.” The phrases were always misnomers to some degree, but the recent mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has revealed just how unsuitable that distinction is for today’s terrorist threats.
On October 4, Judge Susan Bolton will hold a hearing to consider former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s request that she vacate his conviction for criminal contempt now that President Trump has issued what many have described as a regrettable but valid pardon. This choice is to Judge Bolton’s credit: Instead of simply vacating his conviction, she’s wise to grapple with this unusual and perhaps unprecedented pardon.
Five months into Donald Trump’s presidency, the top ranks of the Executive Branch remain a lonely place. Commentators have, increasingly, noted the number of key positions that remain unfilled—emphasizing, in particular, critical national security roles that sit empty.