The Week that Was

On Lawfare Daily, Benjamin Wittes spoke with Shane Harris and Eugenia Lostri about the historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. They discussed the prisoners released from each of the seven countries involved, President Joe Biden’s personal involvement in the trade, and more.

Julien Berman shared a livestream of Biden’s remarks on the release of American detainees from Russia.

Oksana Kuzan argued that Russia is deliberately delaying exchanges of Ukrainian prisoners of war and spreading disinformation to create fear and uncertainty among Ukrainian families and undermine the credibility of the Ukrainian government.

On Lawfare Daily, Anastasiia Lapatina spoke with Marcel Plichta about Ukraine’s ongoing drone campaign against Russia. They discussed Ukraine’s decision to select targets deep inside of Russian borders, the future of drone warfare around the world, and more.

In the latest installment of Water Wars, 翱荣白 , Anna Z. , and Nikita Salagme analyzed recent developments in Indo-Pacific geopolitics. They discussed a provisional agreement between China and the Philippines regarding the Second Thomas Shoal, a trilateral security cooperation framework established by the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, the participation of the “Indo-Pacific Four” in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Scott Anderson spoke with Steven Cook about his new book, “The End of Ambition: America’s Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East.” They examined the United States’s historical involvement in the Middle East, its successes and failures, and potential future directions for U.S. policy in the region.

In this week’s edition of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Daniel Milton examined newly released documents from the Islamic State that include complaints made by group members and those living under the caliphate’s rule. The complaints highlight the caliphate’s petty bureaucratic structure and mindset, detailing its inefficiencies, organizational problems, and corrupt governance.

Maya Nicholson analyzed the language in United Nations Security Council resolutions to trace the United States’ evolving position on the Israel-Gaza conflict, showcasing the transition from a stance strongly supporting Israel’s military activity in the Gaza strip to one advocating for a ceasefire.

Ingrid Brunk and Monica Hakimi analyzed the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion, which concluded that Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory violates international law. They emphasized that the norm prohibiting annexation is essential to modern international law and must be strengthened to prevent an increasing number of territorial conflicts worldwide.

In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren discussed a leak suggesting that Israel seized documents from one of the country’s top cybersecurity firms to prevent their disclosure in a U.S. lawsuit, intelligence warnings about foreign interference in the upcoming U.S. elections, efforts to remove the PlugX botnet, and more.

Ben Scott examined the recent rise in “strategic disclosures” by countries in the Five Eyes intelligence partnership. He argued for clearer disclosure guidelines that balance the demands of information competition with the need to preserve public trust.

On Rational Security, Quinta Jurecic , Alan Rozenshtein , and Kevin Frazier discussed the week’s big national security news stories, including the Senate’s passage of the Kids Online Safety Act, the release of Meta’s new artificial intelligence (AI) large language model, Biden’s proposed reforms for the Supreme Court, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Natalie Orpett spoke with Wittes and Anna Bower about footnote 3 of the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States—which both Bower and Wittes described as “the most impenetrable and elusive passage of the Supreme Court’s decision.” They examined the footnote’s content, the questions it raises about evidentiary restrictions, its potential impact on the prosecution’s strategy in the ongoing case against the former president in Washington, D.C., and more.

Bob Bauer discussed the uncertain future of special counsel regulations. He noted that both the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision and Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case cast doubt on the constitutionality and viability of these regulations and suggested that the institution may not survive future legal attacks.

On Aug. 1, Wittes was joined by Roger Parloff and Bower for this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations.” They discussed former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court, the briefing schedule in Trump’s classified documents case, and more. ?

Hannah Fried , Nicholas Martinez, PhD, AICP , and Norman Eisen examined the recent rise in election redos across the United States. They argued that redos waste time and resources, risk undermining public trust in the electoral process, and fuel baseless claims of voter fraud. ?

Matt Gluck shared a report from the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (OIG) finding that the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania violated department policy by releasing information about an ongoing election fraud investigation in Luzerne County in September 2020.

Berman shared an OIG report about the Justice Department’s response to Washington D.C. protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020.

Zolyniak, in light of Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) recent conviction, outlined the ways federal prosecutors can utilize different statutes in addition to the Foreign Agent Registration Act—such as 18 U.S.C. § 951, § 219, and § 201—to effectively counter malign influence by foreign agents, principals, and governments.

On Chatter, David Priess sat down with Arnold L. Punaro to discuss his new book, “If Confirmed: An Insider’s View of the National Security Confirmation Process,” about the Senate confirmation process for national security nominees. They talked about the Constitutional foundations of confirmation, recess appointments, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Frazier spoke with Ryan Calo about the impact of AI advancements on privacy protections. They discussed Calo’s recent testimony before the U.S. Senate, the new privacy challenges posed by AI, various regulatory approaches at both state and federal levels, and more.

Trent Kannegieter evaluated Leopold Aschenbrenner’s claim that artificial general intelligence will arrive by 2027. He argued that Aschenbrenner’s timeline is overly optimistic and identified several key challenges that current artificial intelligence systems face, including limitations in reasoning abilities, data quality issues, and persistent hallucinations, which are unlikely to be solved so quickly.

And to support Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump Trials—a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump in Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia—please consider making a contribution here. Lawfare’s talented correspondents and analysts discuss the latest developments in the cases, explain the complex legal issues they raise, and consider what might come next in a wide range of content, including written analysis, podcasts, live and recorded virtual events, primary source document repositories, and infographics. ? And that was the week that was.

Compiled by Berman.