Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,805 Articles
Four Remarkable Arguments in DOJ’s Latest Brief in the Michael Flynn Case [UPDATED with links to reply/response briefs]
A couple of weeks ago, I published a very long, comprehensive post in which I tried to explain all the ins and outs of the Michael Flynn case, from 2016 to the present day. Since…
How Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19 Could Worsen Inequality
The pandemic has punctuated systemic socio-economic disparities. Don't let reopening measures make them worse.
Pompeo’s Personal Stake in the International Criminal Court’s Afghan Investigation
It is no secret that the Trump administration, in general, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, specifically, are hostile toward the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly…
A Deep Dive into Canada’s Overhaul of Its Foreign Intelligence and Cybersecurity Laws
Following the release of documents by Edward Snowden, many of the Western governments whose agencies’ activities were implicated in the leaks raced to update and modernize their…
A Bipartisan Push in Congress to Fight the ‘Parallel Pandemic’ of Human Rights Abuses Abroad
Legislation would improve US support to rights defenders, journalists, and marginalized groups fighting authoritarian abuses of emergency powers abroad.
Understanding the Michael Flynn Case: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, and the Proper from the Improper
What follows is an effort to identify and evaluate many of the most important aspects of the Flynn affair, roughly in chronological order from the Summer of 2016 to today.
Leading the Intelligence Community Will Be a Test for Ratcliffe
Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) was confirmed last Thursday as President Donald Trump’s top intelligence adviser in a party line Senate vote, putting an inexperienced and highly…
The Terrorist as a “Potentially Dangerous Person”: The German Counterterrorism Regime
The attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz in December 2016 was arguably Germany’s 9/11. While German anti-terrorism law previously was influenced “only” by international…
Eli Lake’s Omissions and Misleading Facts in Defense of Michael Flynn
Lake's essay has been called “the best summary of the pro-Flynn argument you'll ever read,” but former US Attorney and Professor Barbara McQuade finds Lake's analysis omits…
Nuclear Arms Control, or a New Arms Race? Trump Seems Bent on the Latter.
More ambitious talks with the Russians and Chinese are a laudable goal. But they can be pursued smartly and without unnecessarily high risk.
Recently Released OLC Opinions From 1974 Shed Light on Current Legal Debates
Earlier this month, my colleagues and I at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University secured the release of 96 previously withheld opinions authored by the Justice…
Anticipating Phase Two of the Trumped Up “Obamagate”
Grappling with the potential criminal liability of leakers of the Flynn phone call, and how Trump and Barr will exploit it in their ongoing campaign of public deception.