Jack Goldsmith is the Henry L. Shattuck Professor at Harvard Law School, co-founder of Lawfare, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.
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The investigation as it developed should not have been conducted by a federal prosecutor, and Attorney General Barr’s public commentary has seriously (and somewhat mysteriously) damaged the credibility of whatever Durham uncovers.
The Summer 2020 Supplement for Bradley, Deeks, & Goldsmith, Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2020) is now available on Lawfare.
Bolton’s lawyers persuasively argue that the court lacks the authority to issue the requested injunction. They also show why his non-disclosure agreements are narrower than the government portrays, and how irregular his pre-clearance review process was.
Judge Lamberth will convene a hearing on June 19 at 1:00 p.m. to consider the government's petition for a temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction. What are the relevant legal issues at play, and what questions should Lamberth ask the government?
The government faces many hurdles.
Congress has significant constitutional power to curtail the president’s discretion to fill vacancies created by his firings of inspectors general.
The firing is almost certainly lawful, but it is unclear whether the president’s chosen replacement can immediately assume the role.