logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2017
1h 2m

What Happens When We Don’t Believe the P...

THE LAWFARE INSTITUTE
About this episode

Yesterday, Just Security and the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law hosted Benjamin Wittes for a conversation on a question he and I have posed about the path of the Trump presidency so far: what happens when we can’t take the president’s oath of office seriously?

Ben’s talk focused on an essay by him and myself that went up on Lawfare simultaneously, in which we argued that the presidential oath—little discussed though it may be in constitutional jurisprudence and academic literature—is actually the glue that holds together many of our assumptions about how government functions. And when large enough numbers of people cause to doubt the sincerity of the president’s oath, those assumptions begin to crumble.

Many thanks to Ryan Goodman of Just Security and Zachary Goldman of the Center on Law and Security for putting together this event. Make sure to also read Ryan’s Just Security followup post on his post-talk discussion with Ben and the questions raised by our essay.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Rational Security: The “Take a Light Out of Crime” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin Wittes, Natalie Orpett, and Ariane Tabatabai to talk through the week’s big news in national security, including:“Keeping It On the Strait and Narrow.” Three weeks into the U.S. and Israel’s air campaign against Iran, ... Show More
1h 29m
Today
Lawfare Daily: Iran Will Retaliate in the U.S., and We May Not See It in Time
In this episode, Lawfare Public Service Fellow Troy Edwards joins Lawfare Senior Editor Michael Feinberg to discuss Iran’s history of drawing from a robust retaliatory toolkit and international proxy network to extend its reach around the world, including in the United States. Re ... Show More
44m 6s
Yesterday
Lawfare Daily: National Security, Counterintelligence, and Counterespionage: A Guide for the Perplexed
In today's episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Michael Feinberg sits down with his former FBI colleague retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derek Pieper to discuss the differences between counterintelligence and counterespionage investigations, the skill sets needed for each, an ... Show More
50m 34s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Is SCOTUS Afraid of Holding Trump to Account?
Oral arguments at the Supreme Court Thursday in Trump v. Anderson revealed a lot about some of the justices’ commitment to the primacy of originalism. Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, joins Dahlia Lithwick to discuss why his orga ... Show More
50m 19s
Jan 2022
Supreme Court Blocks Trump Request
The United States Supreme Court has just rejected former President Trump’s request to block the release of his White House records, clearing the way for the documents to be handed over to the January 6th committee. Over 700 documents will be transferred to Congress which could il ... Show More
37m 2s
Oct 2022
The Trump Subpoena
<p>A few days ago, when the House committee investigating Jan. 6 issued a subpoena to former President Donald J. Trump, it raised a legal question: Can Congress compel a former president to testify?</p><p>The committee’s move, while dramatic, is not without precedent.</p><p>What ... Show More
27m 55s
May 2022
A Scholar's View of Supreme Court Leaks—and Why Chief Justice Roberts Presides Over an 'Accountability-Free Zone' (Feat. Steven Lubet)
Despite the aftershocks of Politico obtaining and publishing a draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, monumental Supreme Court leaks have a history dating back centuries.Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Professor Steven Lubet unpacks that tradition ... Show More
31m 11s
Oct 2021
The Most Important Supreme Court Term in Decades
<p>The latest term of the U.S. Supreme Court will include blockbuster cases on two of the most contentious topics in American life: abortion and gun rights.</p><p>The cases come at a time when the court has a majority of Republican appointees and as it battles accusations of poli ... Show More
22m 47s
Jan 2021
A Disastrous End to a Disastrous Presidency
The Trump presidency is ending as it began: complete chaos. David Chalian takes you inside the President's disastrous final days and tells you how President-elect Biden is trying to reframe the conversation. Plus, a look at law enforcement's massive preparations underway ahead of ... Show More
7m 37s
Apr 2024
Weekend Law: Trump Trial Week 1 & SCOTUS on Presidential Immunity
Constitutional law professor Michael Dorf of Cornell Law School, discusses the historic Supreme Court oral arguments on presidential immunity. Former federal prosecutor Jeff Tsai and Bloomberg legal reporter Patricia Hurtado, discuss the first week of Trump’s hush money trial. Bl ... Show More
42m 50s