The Wall Street Journal and CNN recently reported that Facebook provided data about Russian advertising purchases made in the run-up to the 2016 election to Special Counsel Robert Mueller pursuant to a search warrant. According to the WSJ and CNN reports, Facebook produced copies of the ads, detailed information about the accounts that purchased the ads, and information about how the ads were targeted at Facebook users in the United States.…   continue »

In this week’s episode, Bobby Chesney and I explore three big national security law developments from the past few days.

First is that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) repeatedly authorized surveillance on Paul Manafort, starting in 2014.

Second: the big news late last week that the U.S.…   continue »

On Sunday, Peter Baker and Kenneth Vogel of the New York Times reported on strains within the White House Counsel’s Office about strategy in responding to the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling.

That White House lawyers would differ on strategy is commonplace.…   continue »

Tomorrow, President Trump will address the United Nations for the first time in what is sure to be a spectacle of high-drama. Trump and his administration have made no secret of their disdain for the U.N. and for global cooperation in general, including by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in June.…   continue »

Nearly 700,000 young immigrants will spend the next six months in limbo, waiting to see whether the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed them to legally live and work in the United States, will get a lifeline or be allowed to expire—potentially sending them back to home countries they barely know.…   continue »

The day-to-day news cycle focuses on critically important national security issues, such as North Korea saber rattling, the ongoing Russia investigation, or whatever else happens to be the national security topic du jour. This flood of daily national security news makes it difficult to take a step back from the day-to-day news cycle and look at the broader security and geopolitical trends that are taking place—but that is exactly what climate change and its corresponding security impacts demand.…   continue »

While rescinding  Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, fits comfortably into the thematic vision of “America First” that resonates so well with President Donald Trump’s voter base, in reality the far-reaching ramifications of this anti-immigration decision are devastating and deeply undermine American values.…   continue »

It shouldn’t be too surprising that in his recent New York Times op-ed calling for an infusion of private contractors into Afghanistan, Erik Prince sidestepped any discussion of Blackwater’s history in Iraq. The company had such a poor record that Prince has changed its name numerous times in the years since: he now is the CEO of the Frontier Services Group.…   continue »

A boy holds his brother in front of the shack he shares with his family in a gang-infested neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

As we process the news that President Donald Trump is ending the DACA program, we shouldn’t forget that last month, Trump sealed the fates of more than 2,700 children attempting to flee criminal violence and economic malaise in Central America.…   continue »

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RULE OF LAW

Trump’s pardon of Arizona’s former sheriff Joe Arpaio raises questions about the rule of law.

Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio

Last Friday Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff convicted of criminal contempt for continuing in his hunt of undocumented immigrants even after his policies were found to be unconstitutional.…   continue »