Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Jan. 5

Benjamin Wittes; Anna Bower; Scott Anderson; Michael Feinberg; Eric Columbus; Katherine Pompilio

Courts & Litigation Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law Executive Branch

Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Jan. 5

Benjamin Wittes, Anna Bower, Scott R. Anderson, Michael Feinberg, Eric Columbus, Katherine Pompilio

Wednesday, January 7, 2026, 7:00 AM

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In a live conversation on YouTube, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Scott Anderson, Michael Feinberg and Eric Columbus and Lawfare Associate Editor Katherine Pompilio to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision on President Trump’s domestic deployment of the National Guard in many cities, Jack Smith’s testimony in front of the House, developments in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, a hearing in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and more.

You can find information on legal challenges to Trump administration actions here. And check out Lawfare’s new homepage on the litigation, new Bluesky account, and new WITOAD merch.

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Topics:

Courts & Litigation Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law Executive Branch

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Benjamin Wittes

benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org

Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.

Anna Bower

@annabower

annabower.bsky.social

Anna Bower is a senior editor at Lawfare. Anna holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Cambridge and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. She joined Lawfare as a recipient of Harvard’s Sumner M. Redstone Fellowship in Public Service. Prior to law school, Anna worked as a judicial assistant for a Superior Court judge in the Northeastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia. She also previously worked as a Fulbright Fellow at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, Turkey. A native of Georgia, Anna is based in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Scott R. Anderson

S_R_Anders

sranderson.bsky.social

Scott R. Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State and as the legal advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.

Michael Feinberg

michael-feinberg.bsky.social

Michael Feinberg is a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he spent the overwhelming majority of his career combatting the PRC’s intelligence services. He is a recipient and multiple times nominee of the FBI’s highest recognition, the Director’s Award for Excellence, as well as numerous other Bureau honors and ODNI commendations. Prior to his service with the FBI, he was an attorney in both private and public practice. The opinions presented here are entirely his own and not that of the U.S. government.

Eric Columbus

EricColumbus

ericcolumbus.bsky.social

Eric Columbus is a senior editor at Lawfare. He previously served as special litigation counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Office of General Counsel from 2020 to 2023. During the Obama administration, he served in political appointments at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.