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Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
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2 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Wow, this puts it as well and as succinctly as I've ever seen it put. Gonna remember the words: "I feel anxious for civic virtue in an era of mis- and disinformation." They capture a lot.
FYI @qjurecic
FYI @alexstamos @noUpside @lisackaplan @Klonick
The more I think about this point, in fact, the more important it is. One of the truly fundamental problems with disinformation is the way it erodes the capacity for civic virtue.

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More from @benjaminwittes

Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
1 Dec
This is a very good point from @steve_vladeck. The appointment itself does not comply with the regs. If Barr can appoint someone pursuant to his general statutory appointment authority and apply the regs, it is very likely that the next attorney general can rescind the order.
That is, if the appointment is not bound by the regs, presumably rescinding the appointment is not either—and thus does not require good cause. If, by contrast, the appointment *is* bound by the regs, it violates them and thus can be rescinded as unlawful.

I think.
Ok, having looked at this a little more carefully now, here's a first read:
(1) The appointment is not made pursuant to the special counsel regulations but to Barr's general statutory authorities as attorney general:
Read 11 tweets
Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
26 Nov
A Thanksgiving story to warm your pluralistic hearts:
It was the early 1990s, the days before Washington DC had meters in taxis. A famine was raging in Somalia. And I was working in my first job out of college: a brief stint working for an organization that focused on the Middle East peace process.
I was heading to my parents’ house. I was standing in front of a mailbox near my office. I was holding a stack of papers with Hebrew writing on them. I hailed a cab.
Read 19 tweets
Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
25 Nov
And by disputed, the Gentlewoman from Colorado means freakin’ false!
@DanCrenshawTX this statement you made is not constitutionally defensible, as @nancyleong gently intimates. You should not peddle in such nonsense.
FYI @OrinKerr
A prosecution is neither a search nor a seizure. It may be that SEARCHING someone’s house to determine if she is celebrating Thanksgiving with too much family would not be a reasonable search. And it may be that one could make religious liberty or due process claims...
Read 4 tweets
Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
22 Nov
Bolero is a neato warhorse, but it is actually one of Ravel's less impressive works. I remember at Oberlin wandering into @CarlaKihlstedt's practice room when she was practicing the "blues" movement from his sonata for violin and piano. It blew my mind. I've loved Ravel since.
Here's @JoshuaBellMusic playing it with @jeremydenk, who was also at Oberlin with us:
The rest of the sonata is baller too.
Read 4 tweets
Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
22 Nov
Lisa Monaco would be an excellent choice for attorney geberal. Unlike Yates, she has not been on a lot of people's lists in rumoring about the role. It's good that she *is* apparently on Biden's list. She is diversely qualified. She is also a very serious person.
The reason, speaking candidly, that she has not been on my list is that I have assumed the incumbent president was going to fire Chris Wray and that Lisa would be a leading candidate for FBI Director. She would be excellent in either role.
Incidentally, the FBI Director role is a much harder one to fill than the attorney general. There are many fewer people qualified to do that job. Lisa is VERY well qualified that role. So if Biden expects Wray to be removed or expects to remove him, he might plausibly...
Read 5 tweets
Benjamin Wittes Profile picture
21 Nov
Does anyone seriously believe that senators would be lining up to preemptively oppose @AmbassadorRice if she looked a little more like, say, Tom Donilon?
She is overwhelmingly qualified. The reasons for opposition to her--at least as I understand them--are nonsense.
So to all senators who are lining up to denounce her, I issue a challenge: articulate clearly why you think she is not an appropriate nominee. I'm open to persuasion here. Really. But if you're going to declare an overwhelmingly well-qualified black woman as DOA as a nominee...
...you should able to make a clear case based on disqualifying facts, positions, or views.

So what is it?
Read 7 tweets

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