Today's Headlines and Commentary

Gordon Ahl
Friday, November 15, 2019, 11:11 AM

Lawfare’s daily roundup of national-security news and opinions.

Published by The Lawfare Institute
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Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is testifying on Friday in a public hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, reports the Washington Post. Lawfare is livestreaming the hearing here.

The White House released a rough transcript of President Trump’s April call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulating him on his electoral win, reports the Post. The transcript can be read here on Lawfare.

The Associated Press reports that a second U.S. embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a July 26 call between President Trump and Amb. Gordon Sondland, in which Trump asked Sondland about “investigations” he had sought in Ukraine.

On Thursday, President Trump asked the Supreme Court to block a subpoena for the release of his tax returns from his accounting firm Mazars, reports the Wall Street Journal. This comes after a series of appeals court rulings against the president, which can be found here on Lawfare.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Rudy Giuliani for potential campaign finance violations and for a failure to register as a foreign agent, according to Bloomberg.

In the D.C. District Court, a federal judge ruled that Hoda Muthana, an American-born woman who joined the Islamic State and claims to want to return home is not a U.S. citizen, reports the New York Times. The ruling is narrow and relates to Muthana’s father’s status as a foreign diplomat when she was born.

President Trump is demanding that South Korea pay approximately 400% more to maintain the presence of U.S. troops in the country in 2020, according to CNN.

The International Criminal Court has approved a request from the prosecutor’s office to investigate crimes against humanity committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, reports the Times.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell shared this week’s episode of Rational Security, focusing on impeachment, the Roger Stone trial and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington, D.C.

Howell also shared the latest episode in the Arbiters of Truth series of The Lawfare Podcast, in which Evelyn Douek discusses Facebook’s Oversight Board with Zoe Darmé, the manager of Facebook’s Global Affairs and Governance team.

Lester Munson shared another episode of the Fault Lines Podcast, in which he discusses U.S.-Iran relations with Norman Roule, a former national intelligence manager for Iran at the ODNI.

Jacob Schulz posted an FBI report on lone wolf terrorism.

Gordon Ahl posted the arrest warrant and 2016 indictment of a Russian national who was recently extradited from Israel to face charges related to online credit card fraud.

Ahl also posted an indictment of two Massachusetts men on charges related to an expansive scheme to steal social media accounts and cryptocurrency.

Wolfgang Schulz shared a paper about European regulatory regimes for online platforms.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job opening on our Job Board.


Gordon Ahl is a senior at Georgetown University, studying international politics. He is an intern at Lawfare and the Brookings Institution.

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