The Great Hiatus Begins
But first, some baby elephants
Good Evening:
In case what’s missing from your life is eight pictures of baby elephants and one picture of a baby giraffe, this will cover you until I get back from the Great Hiatus, which began yesterday.
There will be no show until June 27. And if there are dog shirts between now and then, it will only be because I have beasts of the day to share.
In this case, I have orphaned baby elephants of various to share.
Thursday on #DogShirtTV, the estimable Eve gaumond had a bone to pick with me about how I talk about Claude. Also, the estimable Mike Feinberg mourned the loss of elite WASP cultural dominance:
Friday on #DogShirtDaily, Eve and I went over the highly scientific poll data that emerged from our dispute and the estimable Anastasiia Lapatina and I updated on the state of the war:
Recently On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Peter Beck
Introducing RAGtime
I announce the release of RAGtime, a new Lawfare research platform available in beta to material supporters. A video demonstration of RAGtime is available here and here.
I also know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking, “But hang on! What is RAGtime?”
I’m glad you asked, if only in your thoughts.
RAGtime is a set of tools I have been developing over the last several months in the course of helping some of my colleagues develop and analyze datasets for use in doing rule-of-law journalism. It all began when Lawfare Associate Editor Katherine Pompilio approached me with the problem of how to identify all of the instances in which the government had violated court orders in immigration habeas cases—by failing to release illegally-detained individuals, refusing to provide information about immigrants’ whereabouts, or declining to return personal property like driver’s licenses. It’s hard to find these instances. Pompilio had identified roughly 180 such cases—significantly more than had been identified in published news stories—but she had run out of obvious leads for identifying them manually. She knew there were more, but how do you find them in courts all over the country?
The Paranoid Style in American Oversight, Part II
Michael Feinberg continues his dive into the conspiracies around Arctic Frost, the FBI investigation into President Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 Election. Feinberg examines lawmakers’ efforts to portray the investigation as deviating from the FBI’s rules and norms.
Much like Grassley’s efforts to portray the opening of ARCTIC FROST as a deviation from normal case predications, these ideological confreres—Jordan, Patel, and Bongino—and their attempts to cast doubt on the wisdom and propriety of specific investigative steps once again relied on an unruly mélange of documents, proffered to the public in haphazard order, and without any context or reference to any extant FBI and Justice Department policies. But for those truly interested in understanding how the case unfolded—and who seek such comprehension without political goals or ideological rancor—it’s worth imposing a narrative architecture on the records, and examining them in a thematic fashion, investigative technique by investigative technique, to understand the special agents’ actions in a more incisive and objective fashion. Viewed through such a lens, something important becomes obvious: The FBI’s investigation into the fake electors plot was not overly aggressive in any fashion. If anything, the case agents acted logically, prudently, and, to use a phrase beloved by law and order types, by the book.
Syria’s State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Is Blocking Its Recovery
John Balouziyeh and Charles Lister argues that keeping Syria on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list hinders its ability to recover and settle its outstanding judgments from the Assad regime.
This status was originally imposed because of the Assad regime’s support for violent nonstate armed groups operating against U.S. allies and interests. The Assad regime is now gone. The conduct that justified the designation belongs to a government that no longer exists. Yet the designation remains—and its consequences are devastating Syria’s prospects for recovery. Even where investment is not technically prohibited under U.S. law, risk-averse compliance departments decline to authorize transactions involving Syria, unwilling to assume the reputational and legal exposure that comes with doing business in a country bearing the SST designation.
Podcasts
Lawfare Daily: Why Immigrants are Challenging the Conditions of their Detention: Natalie Orpett speaks with Elora Mukherjee, Director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, about the legal landscape of immigration detention. The two discussed what rights detained immigrants have, why it’s so hard to enforce them, and why it’s even harder to get a remedy when rights are violated.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is the cow, seen here being cuddled:
In honor of today’s Beast, accept the love that comes to you.
See you in a couple of weeks.
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Amazing pictures already Ben! Safe travels to you all!