Lawfare Live: Midterm 2026 Debrief, November 4
Join the Lawfare team at 1:30 P.M. ET for a debrief on the 2026 Midterm Elections.
Where the Weight Lies: A Balancing Act for the Governance of Open-Weight AI Models
What would a ban on open weight models which run artificial intelligence systems actually look like? Could it even be implemented? What implications would it have for the concept of digital sovereignty?
American Troops at the Polls: A History
From Reconstruction to the Voting Rights Act, how the U.S. came to keep soldiers from the ballot box, and why that norm is now being tested.
How to Steal an Election
There’s no master plan to meddle in the midterms. But the STEEL Working Group looked at the wide array of tactics threat actors may try—and how to stop them.
Congressional Oversight after Trump v. United States
Trump v. United States weakened Congress’s oversight powers. If Democrats retake Congress, expect them to try to work around it.
Elections as a Source of Violence
The lesson of America’s violent electoral history is that democracy depends not just on the ability to win elections but also on the willingness to lose them.
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Musk’s Minnesota Deepfake Fight Could Define AI’s First Amendment
The Eighth Circuit’s review of Minnesota’s strict-liability nudification law may settle what state of mind AI companies need for liability. -
Where the Weight Lies: A Balancing Act for the Governance of Open-Weight AI Models
What would a ban on open weight models which run artificial intelligence systems actually look like? Could it even be implemented? What implications would it have for the concept of digital sovereignty? -
American Troops at the Polls: A History
From Reconstruction to the Voting Rights Act, how the U.S. came to keep soldiers from the ballot box, and why that norm is now being tested. -
How to Steal an Election
There’s no master plan to meddle in the midterms. But the STEEL Working Group looked at the wide array of tactics threat actors may try—and how to stop them. -
Congressional Oversight after Trump v. United States
Trump v. United States weakened Congress’s oversight powers. If Democrats retake Congress, expect them to try to work around it. -
Elections as a Source of Violence
The lesson of America’s violent electoral history is that democracy depends not just on the ability to win elections but also on the willingness to lose them. -
Russia’s Partnership With Iran: Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Losses
Putin may have good reasons for dialing back cooperation with Tehran, depending on the wars in Iran and Ukraine. -
The Week That Was
Your weekly summary of everything on the site. -
Fraudfare: Weaponized Fraud Under International Law
Fraudulent Call Centers as Means of War: Patriotic Failure to Prosecute Organized Crime—Uncontrolled Wildfire or Russia’s False Claims -
Hitler’s ‘Flood the Zone’ Strategy
A Review of Timothy W. Ryback, “53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy” (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026). -
Chinese AI Can Learn to Love the West
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare. -
FBI Agents Charged Over Lying to Congress: A Hearing Diary
A live-blog of a preliminary hearing before a magistrate judge relating to the charging of two FBI agents. -
Intern with Lawfare!
Lawfare is now accepting Spring 2027 internship applications. -
Newly Public IG Report Sheds Light on Biden Administration Arms Transfers to Israel
A State Department report obtained by Lawfare found a more than 12-year backlog for reviewing allegations of human rights violations committed by Israeli military units receiving U.S. assistance. -
Washington’s Overlooked Leverage Over China’s Chip Ambitions
China’s new immersion lithography tools are not yet production-ready, but continued allied and U.S. servicing accelerates their progress. Existing U.S. export control rules already offer a response.
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Featured Podcast
Live Coverage
For real-time updates of Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump administration’s legal challenges, follow on Bluesky or below:
What's Old Is New Again
With every new administration comes new promises and new actions on national security. But what’s “new” has often been proposed or even tried before—which means there’s a good chance Lawfare has already analyzed some of the legal and policy implications they present. So we’re making that past content readily accessible as it becomes newly relevant.
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An Explainer on the Espionage Act and the Third-Party Leak Prosecutions
The press scandals keep on coming for the Obama Administration. -
What Does the 60-Day Rule Require?
It’s past time for the Justice Department to respond to the inspector general’s 2018 request to clarify the meaning of the 60-day rule on electoral interference. -
The Trump Admin’s Embrace of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation
The targets, rhetoric, and legal justifications of ideological exclusion and deportation may change over time, but the motivation—suppressing dissent—remains the same.
Documents
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White House Releases Executive Order Declaring a National Emergency Regarding the Electrical Grid
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White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy
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Justice Department Releases Opinion on Military Arrests Near Borders
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White House Releases Executive Orders on Quantum Computing
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White House Releases Executive Order on AI
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Former Cuban President Raúl Castro Indicted
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Trump Administration Releases 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy
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Southern Poverty Law Center Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges
The Lawfare Podcast 
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Lawfare Daily: ‘Little Blue Dot’ and GPS in War and the World with Katherine Dunn
Discussing the birth and evolution of the U.S. government’s GPS program. -
Lawfare Daily: Why Kyiv Is So Vulnerable to Russian Energy Strikes
Why will the upcoming winter be the toughest yet for the Ukrainian capital? -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, October 30
Listen to the October 30 livestream as a podcast.
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Lawfare Live: Midterm 2026 Debrief, November 4
Join the Lawfare team at 1:30 P.M. ET for a debrief on the 2026 Midterm Elections.
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