A Very Brief Dog Shirt

Just the facts and a recommendation, and the #BeastOfTheDay

Good Morning:

For those in the DC area, a recommendation. You can support the project here.

A reminder that you can still get half off the cut-rate dog shirt price in our special trolling sale.

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Yesterday on #DogShirtTV, we really earned the “revolution” part of our “revolution in morning television” slogan. The estimable Holly Berkley Fletcher and I opened a whiteboard program to the Collegium and let everyone work collectively on a script and storyboard for our forthcoming #SpecialMilitaryOperation, which targets Trump’s banner outside the Department of Agriculture. Watch the video for this one; the audio alone won’t make sense!

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The Situation

In today’s “The Situation” column, I offer my apologies to the French people following the successful confirmation of Charles Kushner—who in 2004 pled guilty to charges including illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, witness tampering—as United States ambassador to France:

In February 2003, a grand jury began investigating this activity, focusing on, among other things, Kushner’s control of over one-hundred real estate partnerships which he and various associates had allegedly used to defeat federal tax laws and circumvent federal campaign contribution limits. In March 2003, Kushner became aware of the investigation and that his sister was providing information to investigating law enforcement authorities in connection with it. That August, Kushner hired a private investigator and his associate to arrange for and videotape the seduction of his brother-in-law by an escort/call girl and to videotape their sexual liaison. On December 5, 2003, the private investigator, the associate, and the escort successfully completed the plan to seduce and videotape Kushner’s brother-in-law.

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Yesterday On Lawfare

Compiled by the estimable Caroline Cornett

Is Accountability Polarizing? What Bolsonaro’s Indictment Can Tell Us

Nicolás de la Cerda, Isabel Laterzo-Tingley, and Ayelén Vanegas examine public opinion of Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, following his indictment for his involvement in the Jan. 8 Capital Riot in Brasília. They note that while the charges resulted in minimal backlash among his supporters, non-supporters showed increased support for democracy, potentially offering valuable lessons for global democratic contexts facing similar challenges.

These findings are meaningful, particularly because following Bolsonaro’s 2018 win, experts warned of the country experiencing an “illiberal backlash.” Bolsonaro won that year’s presidential election with a populist platform centering on anti-corruption and tough-on-crime approaches. Leading up to the election, support for democracy had plummeted. But perhaps these moves to hold Bolsonaro accountable following his alleged crimes is underpinning new faith. Indeed, recent data suggests that support for democracy in recent years is higher in Brazil than among many of its regional peers. Our research suggests that democratic accountability processes may benefit this overall trend. Although others have feared this process may foment large-scale anti-democratic sentiment among Bolsonaro’s supporters, our results suggest this may not be the case.

Maintaining Military Justice in the Face of Presidential Expansionism

Jordan Allen discusses the importance of impartial military justice via the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the risks posed by executive overreach. Allen highlights how the Trump administration's attempts to exercise unlawful command influence (UCI)—such as supporting acquittal of service members implicated in war crimes—threaten the integrity and accountability of military justice.

However, the underlying concern with impartial justice carries the same weight as influencing courts-martial to achieve an acquittal. Article 37 draws no distinction on the basis of verdict or outcome sought, presenting a blanket prohibition on any “attempt to influence the action of a court-martial or any other military tribunal or any member thereof, in reaching the findings or sentence in any case.” Indeed, the CAAF has expanded the doctrine in policing not only “actual” UCI but “apparent” UCI as well. Thus, where behavior “place[s] an intolerable strain upon the public’s perception of the military justice system,” UCI may be found even absent a showing of “prejudice to an accused.” And while this move has not been without critics, it reflects a concern for systemic legitimacy and fairness that is well aligned with the underlying purpose of prohibiting UCI. While the wholesale refusal to bring charges may escape legal scrutiny as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, once proceedings have been initiated, UCI might be found to burden the prosecution’s case.

Trump’s Vision for Policing Comes into Focus

Christy Lopez breaks down Executive Order 14288, which outlines President Donald Trump’s plans to militarize and politicize law enforcement, and make holding police accountable even more difficult.t . Lopez highlights how practices such as targeting local jurisdictions that do not comply with directives and deprioritizing accountability signal a departure from an approach to policing grounded in democratic norms and civil rights.

But the point here is that this counterfactual language serves to preview a theme that runs through the rest of the EO: that Trump expects state and local law enforcement to follow his dictates, rather than the rule of law and valid policies set by state and local leaders. Trump made clear during the campaign and since being elected again that he intends to bully local officials into promoting the kind of policing Trump prefers, regardless of what the law allows. “Requiring” widespread use of stop-and-frisk is often cited as an example, but that strategy is relatively mild compared to other practices Trump would like to see become the norm. Speaking about shoplifters at one event, Trump stated: “Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store.”

Podcasts

On Lawfare Daily, Anastasiia Lapatina sits down with Francis Farrell to discuss recent developments on the front line of Russia’s war in Ukraine and why the war is deadlier than ever before.

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Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is this goat, which we honor today for creativity, perseverance, and lateral—in this case vertical—thinking:

Video Source

In honor of today’s Beast, consider non-traditional methods of resource extraction.