Next to explore Admiral Bruce MacDonald’s actions during the pre-referral phase is James Harrington.  He’s a lawyer for Ramzi bin Al Shibh.

Earlier, our lunch interrupted live video testimony by Admiral Bruce MacDonald, until recently the commissions’ Convening Authority.  But now lunch is done, and the defense’s questioning presses forward.

Our recess ends and, after some brief discussion of logistics, Ruiz’s examination ekes forward.

Last week I noted that Ayman al Zawahiri, head of AQ, issued a statement directing that AQI and al Nusrah remain separate entities within the AQ system, and I pointed out various questions this raised fr...

Now joining us by video teleconference (VTC) is retired Rear Adm. Bruce MacDonald, who was the military commissions’ Convening Authority from March 2010 until his appointment expired in March 2013.  Toda...

It’s go time at the Expeditionary Legal Complex.  Judge Pohl ascends the bench and calls our proceedings to order; all five accused are present, along with their attorneys.  There’s a new addition to Ram...

The Fort Meade CCTV screen comes to life, as your correspondents return for another week of pre-trial proceedings in United States v. Mohammed et al.  Look for posts in our Event Coverage section; we'll ...

As Ben noted on the day of President Obama’s big counterterrorism speech last month, one of the speech’s most notable elements was President Obama’s strong reaffirmation of the utility of military commis...

Ask and you shall receive... No sooner had I observed on Friday that the President had still not named the two senior envoys at the State and Defense Departments to help with Guantanamo transfers than t...

Tomorrow at 9 a.m., Lawfare returns to Fort Meade, for a week's worth of CCTV-broadcasted-from-Guantanamo hearings in United States v. Mohammed et al.   The docketing order for our five-day session can ...

The administration issued this statement yesterday on NSA collection under Sections 702 and 215. The entire statement---which describes controls on the programs, their broad parameters, and their value i...

The Washington Post this morning has another big NSA story, this one historical in nature. I'm still digesting it, so for now, I'll just flag key aspects of it.

It is dated this Friday, and begins as follows: Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) I am providing this supplemental consolidated report, prepared by my Administration and consistent with the War Po...

The following is a guest post from Professor Kathleen Clark of Washington University Law.

Over the last 24 hours, the House debated and voted on nearly 200 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 1960). Many of these amendments were approved via "voice vote" (there ...

You'll find Brig. Gen. Mark Martins's six-page statement here.  The opening paragraphs are as follows: Good afternoon. This week, the Military Commission convened to try the charges against Abd Al-Rahim ...

Senator Rand Paul has said he is "reserving judgment" about Edward Snowden, but nevertheless characterized Snowden's conduct as "civil disobedience."  Is that right? From Socrates through Thoreau, Gandh...