Recent Articles
UAE, a Key US Partner in Yemen, Implicated in Detainee Abuse
One of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s regrettable statements during the Iraq war was his infamous response to an Army specialist asking about the lack of armor for military…
Never Waste A Good Crisis, FBI Edition
President Trump’s decision to summarily dismiss now-former FBI Director James Comey has sparked grave concerns in many quarters. The move has been described as a profoundly…
The Early Edition: May 15, 2017
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. JAMES COMEY President Trump…
Recap of Recent Posts on Just Security (May 8-12)
I. Comey Firing Philip Bobbitt, The Comey Firing and the Rule of Law (Tuesday, May, 9) Marty Lederman, An Odd and (perhaps) Telling Omission in the Rosenstein Memo [UPDATED] (Tuesday,…
A Misplaced Focus on “Collusion”
Public discussion of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election is dominated by the question of collusion: Were senior members of the Trump…
President Trump: Don’t Replace Andrew McCabe
Yesterday, James’ Comey’s former deputy, now Acting Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, demonstrated that he, too, is willing to speak his mind (read: will not be…
Norms Watch: Tracking the Erosion of Democratic Traditions (May 5-12)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…
Did Trump Engage in the Obstruction of Justice? The Special Reasons for a Special Prosecutor
Many have now raised the question as to whether the President (and perhaps others advising him) engaged in the obstruction of justice. To use the words of the statute, did Trump…
Congress Protects U.S. Foreign Aid For Now but the Budget Wars Are Just Beginning
While overshadowed by news that House Republicans voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, last week’s signing of a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the…
White House Offers Zero Credible Evidence to Backup Assertion that Morale Was Low at FBI
One of the reasons the White House gave for firing FBI Director James Comey was that “most importantly, rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director.”…
Q&A on Comey Firing, Russia Investigation and More
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, there have been a handful of new revelations reported on the status of the investigations into…
The Coming Comey Succession Crisis
It seems to me that there isn’t much more to be gained from exploring why President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey (Russia), whether he had the legal authority to do…