The Week That Was

Benjamin Wittes unpacked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s misleading comments regarding “Russiagate” and argued that her statements are consistent with Trump’s strategy for responding to scandal: retconning the narrative as a witch hunt and redirecting the attention of the president’s supporters onto political adversaries.

Nick Bednar analyzed President Trump's changes to personnel policy, including the creation of Schedule G—which exempts noncareer government hires from competitive examination— suggesting that the president’s tendency to reward loyalty over merit threatens to upend the civil service and the expertise the federal government relies upon.

Wittes compared the conduct of Oscar Wilde and Alger Hiss—who both sued their accusers despite knowing the harmful allegations against them were true—to that of President Trump amid the Wall Street Journal’s reporting that the president sent a lewd birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein.

Caroline Cornett analyzed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report on the firings of Inspectors General (IGs) by President Trump, which found that the 19 fired IGs’ contributions to the federal government far exceed that of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Wittes argued that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “Russiagate” review does not warrant the appointment of a Strike Force and is part of a broader attempt by the administration to redirect attention away from its scandals.

John Langford examined the three routes to obtaining nationwide injunctions outlined by the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA, which found that lower courts lack authority to issue such injunctions, and proposed a fourth path to universal relief: state suits filed directly with the Supreme Court. Langford suggested that such suits could halt unlawful federal actions, while acknowledging the limitations of this route compared to individual suits.

On Lawfare Daily, Alan Rozenshtein sat down with Noah Feldman to take stock of the Supreme Court’s decision to limit the use of universal injunctions, the legal merits of Justice Barrett’s majority opinion, legal avenues of relief that still remain, and more.

On the Monday episode of Lawfare Daily, Wittes sat down with Bednar, Anna Bower, and Roger Parloff to discuss the Supreme Court’s rulings in Trump v. AFGE and McMahon v. New York, the latest in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the politicization of the Justice Department, and more.

Jordan Ascher—amid the Supreme Court’s June 18 decision in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas—argued that nonstatutory review is a meaningful tool to challenge executive action.

On July 25 at 4 pm ET, Wittes sat down with Parloff, Scott Anderson, and James Pearce to discuss litigation over the Trump administration's immigration policies, a preliminary injunction over the administration's International Criminal Court sanctions, and more.

Mary Ford shared the Trump administration’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan.

On the Thursday episode Scaling Laws, Kevin Frazier sat down with Janet Egan, Jessica Brandt, Neil Chilson, and Tim Fist to discuss the newly released AI Action Plan, what comes next after this AI policy, and more.

On Rational Security, Shane Harris, Mark Goldberg, and Alexander Ward joined Anderson to talk about some of the main issues surrounding this year’s Aspen security conference including the Defense Department barring more than a dozen officials set to participate, the importance of AI in the national security space, and more.

On the Tuesday episode of Scaling Laws, Jack Shanahan joined Frazier to discuss the integration of AI in defense, how AI is reshaping military strategies, the importance of public trust and shared national vision, and more.

Marianne Lu and Nick Shafer explained that Washington must capitalize on President Trump’s AI agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to enhance U.S. AI interests.

Justin Sherman described how ubiquitous technical surveillance by malign actors threatens U.S. government personnel, and how improved privacy laws and expanded data protections can better protect the U.S. national security community.

Jeniffer Deskal discussed the ongoing dispute over encryption between Apple,and the U.K., and explained how the United States can utilize the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act to push back against international decryption mandates on U.S. companies.

Tal Feldman and Jonathan Feldman argued that protein language models (PLMs) are a double-edged sword: While they pose a serious biosecurity threat, they can also help generate useful new drugs to combat that threat. Consequently, the Feldman’s suggested that the United States must take a more resilient approach to national defense, funding PLM research and increasing the country’s capacity to respond to potential biothreats.

On Lawfare Daily, Anderson spoke with Shashank Joshi about Europe’s weaning reliance on the U.S. for security. Anderson also spoke with Iris Ferguson about the Arctic's strategic significance for global security, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Anderson spoke with Ali Nazary about the position of Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front almost four years after the Taliban recaptured Kabul. Anderson also spoke with Samuel Charap about the Trump administration’s pivot on aid to Ukraine, and more.

Katsiaryna Shmatsina—amid the release of 14 Belarusian political prisoners last month and the potential for U.S. sanctions relief—argued that U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg’s visit to Minsk last month was not about recalibrating relations with President Lukashenka, but rather a circuitous approach to restarting peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow by way of the Russian proxy.

Ford shared the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on states’ obligations to address climate change.

Andrea Cameron reviewed Sherri Goodman’s book entitled, “Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security.” 

And Jessica Davis explained how traditional counterterrorism financing tools can be deployed to address drug cartels and other criminal organizations recently designated by the U.S. and Canada as terrorist groups.

And that was the week that was.