Lawyers, State Secrets, and Signal Chats

On this week’s episode, Andrew and Mary start with the major capitulation of the Paul, Wiess law firm to Trump’s demands late last week, in exchange for rescinding an EO targeting the firm. This is the chilling effect they’ve been talking about in action. Then: what are the consequences of the Trump administration defying court orders from US District Chief Judge James Boasberg? The deportation of Venezuelan migrants without due process seems to be careening into that constitutional question, so Andrew and Mary break down the latest on that case, as the government invokes the “state secrets privilege”. And lastly, they detail the legal issues surrounding the now-infamous Signal chat reported by The Atlantic- an extraordinary demonstration of gross negligence when it comes to national defense information. 

Further reading: 

• Here is Mary’s piece on Just Security: Dissecting the Trump Administration’s Strategy for Defying Court Orders
• And here is Andrew’s piece, also from Just Security: The New “Blacklists” Work When Law Firms Stay Silent
• And here is the criminal code Andrew and Mary referenced: 18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information

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