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.
1,846 Articles
USG Statement on Int’l Criminal Court Probe into Alleged U.S. War Crimes is Missing Some Things
As states gathered earlier this month to kick off the 16th Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, ICC watchers wondered what to expect from…
The House Intelligence Committee’s Section 702 Markup Was a Politicized Debacle
On Dec. 1, 2017, the House Intelligence Committee took the unusual step of holding an open markup of its bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
Why Microsoft Challenged the Right Law: A Response to Orin Kerr
This coming spring, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the United States v. Microsoft – a case that will determine the authority of U.S. law enforcement to compel, via…
Thoughts on Erik Prince’s Proposal to Privatize Intelligence Gathering
This week we learned, via the Intercept, of Erik Prince’s proposal to provide the Trump Administration with a private intelligence outfit. According to the Intercept, “The…
Why Don Jr.’s Attorney-Client Privilege Claim Is Dubious
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, met with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) on Wednesday and raised eyebrows when he invoked attorney-client…
Hayden, NSA, and the Road to 9/11
Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA (and now, a national security analyst at CNN), has recently emerged as a leading critic of the Trump administration,…
Responding to the Myths About Reforming FISA’s Section 702
Image: National Security Agency headquarters, Fort Meade, Md. As the New Year’s deadline for reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) approaches,…
Special Edition Just Security Podcast: Mike Flynn’s Plea Deal
I sat down with former White House lawyer Andy Wright to have a quick conversation about today’s news that President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor…
Warrantless Backdoor Searches are Not “Business as Usual”
This week, Just Security ran two posts, one by Matt Olsen and one by Asha Rangappa, defending the government’s warrantless access to Americans’ communications obtained “incidentally”…
Former Prosecutor Renato Mariotti’s Tweet Threads on National Security (Nov. 25-Dec. 1)
Here is an exposition and analysis of some of this week’s national security-related threads authored by Just Security Editorial Board member and former federal prosecutor Renato…
Iran Policy Implications of Replacing Tillerson with Pompeo and Cotton to CIA
The White House has created a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and then nominate Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to replace Pompeo…
The Supreme Court May Be Ready to Further Limit Warrantless Access to Communications
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Carpenter v. United States, a case involving the privacy of cell phone location information. At issue is whether the government…