On Wednesday, NSA released a new SIGINT Annex. The SIGINT Annex is a very technical but also very important document, last substantively revised in the 1980s, that basically governs signals intelligence activity outside the scope of FISA, under Executive Order 12333. 1/10 For the SIGINT nerds out there - you know who you are - I wrote a paper explaining the SIGINT Annex, lawfareblog.com/explaining-sig…. It’s very technical & will appeal in its entirety only to a very select few. But certain parts, called out below, may have a slightly wider audience. 2/10

Just finished @JohnBrennan’s Undaunted. The politics and criticisms of Trump are very interesting, of course, and that’s getting most of the attention, understandably. 1/11 But another aspect is also worthy of attention: Undaunted is a *very* interesting life story. 2/11

These days, it can seem like everything that needs to be said has been said about the presidency of Donald Trump … that any description or analysis of his presidency will be met with some variant of “yes, obviously” or “you will be burned at the stake.” 1/10 Even so, I recommend two recent documents. First, a statement from former Republican national security officials briefly explaining how and why “Donald Trump has failed our country and that Vice President Joe Biden should be elected the next President of the United States.” 2/10

Here are my two big conclusions from the IG’s report, as revealed in the 20-page executive summary. 1/9 First, the report repudiates the claims of a coup and related deep-state conspiracies in the FBI as advanced by President Trump and his supporters. 2/9

President Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, described in the White House Memo of Conversation (MemCon), is unequivocal: Trump uses the power of the Presidency against a domestic political opponent. This is, as I've said, profoundly corrupt, reminiscent of Nixon. 1/5 Since then, Trump’s supporters have trotted out a series of defenses, none of which deserves to be taken seriously – e.g., the MemCon is hearsay, Trump only mentioned Biden by name once, the whistleblower is probably a Democrat, etc. 2/5

Rudy Guiliani seems to admit – “of course I did” – that he urged Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of President Trump’s political opponent, Joe Biden, and that he later told the President about his efforts. cnn.com/2019/09/19/pol… 1/8 Rudy also says there is nothing wrong with what he did, and further claims that the President could even have explicitly conditioned US foreign aid on Ukraine’s willingness to investigate – “he had every right to do it” – as a kind of quid pro quo. 2/8

Here are the seven things that I think Bob Mueller was trying to say this morning. (1) Please read my report, because it documents matters of paramount importance, including multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election and obstruction of the investigation into this election interference.

It’s very unusual for a non-Intelligence Community (IC) officer to be given absolute declassification authority over the IC. This extraordinary delegation of authority, and the reaction it has provoked, show how far we have moved from historical norms. 1/5

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/status/1131718125895000066

Since the mid-1970s, the country has expected the Attorney General (AG), as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, to help oversee and enforce a system of intelligence under law, appropriately respectful of privacy and rigorously apolitical. 2/5

The most interesting aspect of Barr’s summary is Mueller’s non-decision on obstruction. Here are some initial thoughts. 1/7 The traditional choice is to indict or decline, based on factual, legal, & prudential concerns. For example, decline b/c there’s evidence of guilt but no proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Or b/c there is proof but DOJ says Article II forbids indictment of a sitting president. 2/7

Regarding Mueller, there are of course a lot of possibilities, but here are a few predictions to occupy the mind while we wait. 1/7 First, we are told no more indictments are coming (beyond the many already filed), but I bet the Mueller report will still include significant new derogatory information on the Trump inner circle and probably on POTUS himself. 2/7

This letter reveals a lot about Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, but I want to focus lower down in the chain of command – on the “ODAG ethics official” and other “ethics officials” at DOJ, and what they mean for the rule of law today. 1/6

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/status/1075959506692161537

These ethics officials are the ones who said that Whitaker “should recuse himself from supervision of the Special Counsel investigation because…a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts likely would question [his] impartiality” under the governing regulation. 2/6

Why did POTUS direct Sessions to resign and appoint Whittaker? The answer is obvious, but still astounding: he switched the AG to limit a special counsel investigation in which he is a subject. Normally, this kind of behavior might itself end a presidency. 1/3 Who is Whittaker? Well, according to this Candidate Questionnaire he is – and I am not kidding – someone who literally thinks that Marbury v Madison was wrongly decided. Normally, this might make you a questionable candidate to serve as Acting AG. caffeinatedthoughts.com/2014/05/iowa-u…. 2/3

Lots of tweets on voting running up to the midterms, so here is mine. In Washington State, where I live, we vote by mail. sos.wa.gov/elections/faq_…. 1/7 You sit down at your desk or kitchen table, review the pamphlet or go online (or wherever) for supplemental information, and color in the ovals to reflect your choices. 2/7

Trump provokes many responses. He has his defenders, Faustian bargainers (tax cut!), gentle reproachers (Donald sometimes goes too far), comparative critics (focused on the intersection of his norm violations and those he triggers), relentless opponents, strident antagonists. 1/4

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1037428142649094145

Now we have the anonymous op-ed. The Constitution prescribes ways of dealing with a corrupt, incompetent, or crazy president. Creating a “two-track presidency” to promote “ideals long espoused by conservatives” for which POTUS himself has “little affinity” is not one of them. 2/4

If anyone is still peddling the no-hearing argument on the Carter Page FISAs, here is the FISA Court’s own description, sent to Congress in 2013, of how things really work: fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/…. 1/5 Draft applications are submitted a week in advance, and after review by “the Court’s legal staff” the judge makes a preliminary determination “to approve…to impose conditions...[to decide] that additional information is needed...or...that a hearing would be appropriate.” 2/5

It may be helpful to review exactly who said what about Trump in connection with the Cohen proceedings, and what it means. There were at least four separate statements made about Cohen’s crimes and the role of the Trump campaign or the candidate himself. 1/6 The written Information (charging document) to which Cohen pleaded guilty didn’t say he coordinated with or was directed by Trump. It said he acted “in cooperation, consultation, and concert with, and at the request and suggestion of one or more members of the campaign.” 2/6

This is disgusting, even for Trump. Brennan will be fine, but it is bad for our country in at least three ways. 1/5

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/status/1029849256381894658

First, this is, pure and simple, retaliation for public criticism of the President. It’s an effort to silence and instill fear in others who have clearances and who may disagree with Trump’s policies or actions. Punishing free speech is un-American. 2/5

The Manafort trial could be significant in at least 2 ways: (1) symbolically, as the first Special Counsel trial, and (2) if Manafort is convicted, in providing incentives for him to cooperate with the Special Counsel. 1/5 However, this trial has nothing to do with Russia, and it stems from a pre-existing investigation that the Special Counsel inherited. It is fundamentally a fraud case. The parties have agreed, and been ordered, to try the case that way. And Judge Ellis runs a tight ship. 2/5

Today’s indictment fills a major gap in Mueller’s mosaic, adding hacking to previous charges of propaganda, offering things of value, & concealing/lying. A factual narrative rounding out the basic elements of the January 2017 IC Assessment of Russian election interference. 1/6 It also represents the first direct charges of Russian government personnel (GRU is Russian military intelligence). The previously indicted Internet Research Agency is a private entity with connections to the Russian government. 2/6

Lots of talk about POTUS prosecution, impeachment and pardon. Here’s where I come down. 1/ Many observers agree that POTUS can be guilty of crimes, including obstruction of justice, at least in an extreme enough case where his motive is purely corrupt. 2/

As @n8jones81 of Culper Partners explains, the main reason for POTUS false claims of FBI “spying” on his campaign is to undermine the investigation that may soon reveal his misconduct. 1/

https://twitter.com/thecipherbrief/status/1001445969144221696

Nate shows how POTUS uses the same playbook for the media, denigrating journalism as “fake news”: “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.” 2/