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Documents: FOIA Suit on the Legal Basis of Syrian Airstrikes
In May 2017, the nonprofit Protect Democracy filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the Trump administration's legal justification behind the U.S. airstrikes in Syria during April of t... -
The Demagogue as President: Speech, Action and the Big Parade
We are constantly confronted with the question of how seriously to take the president’s words. By one interpretation, not so much: His verbal excesses and outrages should not be confused with action. Thi... -
The McGahn Cover Letter in Light of the Trump Tweet
The Nunes memo was thoroughly debunked less than 12 hours after its publication. -
It Was Worse than You Think: The House Intelligence Meeting on the Nunes Memo
On Monday, Jan. 29, the House Intelligence Committee convened to vote on whether to release to the public the much-discussed memo on alleged surveillance abuses prepared by Committee Chairman Devin Nunes... -
Is the Federal Government Hosting Foreign Visitors at the Trump Hotel?
Since Donald Trump’s election, numerous ethical concerns have been < -
Big Lies, Law Enforcement, and the Defense of Rod Rosenstein
The defense of democratic institutions, norms, values and culture does not always involve standing up for people who have acted heroically. Stories feel better, of course, when it does—when honor goes to... -
What’s So Great About the Declare War Clause?
PDF Version A review of Noah Feldman’s “The Three Lives of James Madison,” (Random House, 2017). *** I -
What’s Up With McGahn Revisionism?
“[T]he WH Counsel seems to be renting out space in his office to the New York Times,” notes Bill Kristol in reference to the sympathetic New York Times story yesterday about White House Counsel Don McGah... -
What's So Great About the Declare War Clause? Noah Feldman's Madison & War Powers: Part III
The first two essays of this three-part series on Noah Feldman’s “The Three Lives of James Madison” discussed Madison’s theory of war powers and some of its failure or adaptation in practice. This last e... -
Trump’s Effort to Fire Mueller: Reactions to the New York Times Report
The New York Times reported Thursday evening that President Trump ordered the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in June and was only dissuaded when White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to res... -
On Trump’s Conflict with the Russia Investigation, His Question for McCabe, and the Defense of Norms
The possibility that the president will reject full cooperation with the special counsel presents the question of how a “norm” is defended or enforced. -
What’s So Great About the Declare War Clause? Noah Feldman’s Madison & War Powers: Part II
The first essay in this three-part series about Noah Feldman’s “The Three Lives of James Madison” discussed how Madison’s theory of war powers was focused heavily on internal dangers to liberty and repub...
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