The catalog below organizes our collection of articles primarily about the war into general categories to facilitate access to relevant topics for policymakers, researchers, journalists, scholars, and the public at large. The archive will be updated as new pieces are published.

We welcome readers to use this catalog to follow the unfolding situation and generate new lines of analysis. To search headlines and authors, expand one or all of the topics, as needed, and use CTRL-F on your keyboard to open the search tool. The archive also is available in reverse chronological order at the Russia-Ukraine War articles page.

IMAGES (left to right): A man takes a selfie in front a destroyed apartment building on April 9, 2022 in Borodianka, Ukraine. The Russian retreat from towns near Kyiv has revealed scores of civilian deaths and the full extent of devastation from Russia’s attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images); A woman with a Ukrainian flag stands outside the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICJ) or Peace Palace on the first day of hearings on March 7, 2022 in The Hague The Netherlands. Ukraine is petitioning the ICJ to classify Russia’s invasion as a genocide and issue an injunction under the UN Convention against Genocide. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images); Ukrainian servicemen carry the casket bearing the remains of journalist Maks Levins on April 4, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Levin, who was a contributor to LB.ua and Reuters, among other news organizations, went missing on March 13 and was found dead on April 1 near the village Huta Mezhyhirska, north of Kyiv. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

The post Just Security’s Russia–Ukraine War Archive appeared first on Just Security.

The catalog below organizes our coverage into general categories to facilitate access to relevant topics for policymakers, researchers, journalists, scholars, and the public at large. The archive will be updated as new pieces are published.

We welcome readers to use the archive to follow climate change developments and generate new lines of analysis. To search headlines and authors, expand one or all of the topics, as needed, and use CTRL-F on your keyboard to open the search tool.

IMAGES (left to right): Natural disaster and its consequences (via Getty Images); In this picture taken on September 28, 2022, an internally displaced flood-affected family sits outside their tent at a makeshift tent camp in Jamshoro district of Sindh province (Photo by Rizwan Tabassum/AFP via Getty Images; Trees smolder and burn during the Dixie fire near Greenville, California on August 3, 2021. – Numerous fires are raging through the state’s northern forests, as climate change makes wildfire season longer, hotter and more devastating. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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Long before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale assault on Ukraine in February and even prior to his 2014 invasion and capture of Crimea, analysts noted with alarm a different kind of escalation – the threatening rhetoric against Ukraine by Putin and actors within his control. Dating at least to 2008 or 2009, increasingly hostile language laid the groundwork for rejecting Ukraine’s existence as a state, a national group, and a culture.

What follows is a compilation of publicly available statements (readers are invited to submit by email any that we may have missed).

Experts such as Francine Hirsch, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Soviet Judgment at Nuremberg,” have pointed to such language as evidence of genocidal intent toward the Ukrainian people. Whether and how the concept of “genocide” applies to Russia’s campaign against Ukraine is the subject of debate, notwithstanding the reference in Article II of the Genocide Convention to “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such.” A related issue under discussion is a concept often referred to as “cultural genocide,” which generally connotes the intentional destruction of a group’s identity even in the absence of mass killings. “These calls for ‘de-Ukrainization’ are an incitement to genocide: to ‘destroy, in whole or in part,’ the Ukrainian nation,” Hirsch wrote in April. And Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder, in reference to the same article in the Russian outlet RIA Novosti that prompted Hirsch’s conclusion, wrote, “Russia has just issued a genocide handbook for its war on Ukraine.”

Beth Van Schaack, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, said in a May 2022 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in response to a question about the Russian atrocities coming to light in Ukraine, “Some of the genocidal rhetoric that we’re hearing out of Russia is extremely worrying.”

A report from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights concludes that “Russia bears State responsibility for breaches of Article II and Article III (c) of the Genocide Convention,” and “that that there exists undoubtedly a very serious risk of genocide, triggering States’ duty to prevent under Article I of the Genocide Convention.” Among the evidence the report cites is a range of statements that it says constitute “direct and public incitement to commit genocide,” including denying the existence of a Ukrainian identity; accusing Ukraine, contrary to evidence, of committing the very kinds of atrocities that Russia is or envisions committing; and dehumanizing rhetoric.

While analysis of Putin and Russian rhetoric has been extensive, it can make for a fragmented picture of the trend, with selections from relevant passages scattered across articles, social media, books, audio, and video. The following compilation seeks to collect examples of these statements in one place. They are organized in chronological order and necessarily non-exhaustive, since such declarations occur at high frequency in various media controlled by the Russian government, as expert monitors of Russian media such as Julia Davis and Francis Scarr have found.

The statements range from formal presidential addresses and articles by Putin and other officials to commentary on Russian state television and on social media. Sources include (but are not limited to) news articles; books; the Kremlin’s online repository of speeches and addresses; Russian state-controlled news agencies, including RIA Novosti and Kommersant; and posts on Twitter and Telegram.

This compilation, in chronological order, focuses on key words, phrases, and/or themes that appear to express intent on the part of the Russian government to eliminate Ukraine or Ukrainians as a nation-state, people, or culture. Recurring concepts include the notion of historical Russian and Ukrainian unity, denial of the Ukrainian nation, and the conceptualization of “Ukrainianism” as a fascist threat to Russian sovereignty. As the war progresses, it is vital to track these statements of intent for use by analysts, diplomats, policymakers, prosecutors, and more.

With thanks to Maksym Vishchyk for contributing updates for this list.

(Readers may also be interested in Compilation of Countries’ Statements Calling Russian Actions in Ukraine “Genocide” by Elizabeth Whatcott.)

Collected Eliminationist Rhetoric by Putin and Associates

IMAGE: People react as they gather close to a mass grave in the town of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

The post Russia’s Eliminationist Rhetoric Against Ukraine: A Collection appeared first on Just Security.

I. Backgrounders 

• Mark A. Graber, Their Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 and Ours, Just Security (Feb. 16, 2021)
• Project On Government Oversight, Quo Warranto Processes: States and Territories Survey (Jan. 26, 2023) 
• Congressional Research Service, The Insurrection Bar to Holding Office: Appeals Court Issues Decision on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (June 1, 2022) 
• Congressional Research Service, The Insurrection Bar to Office: Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (September 7, 2022)
• Free Speech for People, States Can Enforce Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment without Any New Federal Legislation (Mar. 2023)
• Liz Hempowicz, David Janovsky, Norman L. Eisen, The Constitution’s Disqualification Clause Can Be Enforced Today, Project On Government Oversight (Nov. 15, 2022)

II. Litigation

New Mexico Residents’ Lawsuit to Remove Couy Griffin from Office 

New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin was indicted by the Department of Justice in February 2021, found guilty in March 2022, and sentenced in June 2022.

• Complaint (Mar. 21, 2022)
• Exhibits (Mar. 21, 2022)
• Notice of Hearing (June 7, 2022) 
• Hearing Order (June 7, 2022)
• Scheduling Order (June 14, 2022)
• Notice of Struck Deposition (July 5, 2022)
• Griffin Deposition Transcript (July 20, 2022)
• Motion to Admit Prior Trial Testimony, Exhibits and Records (July 22, 2022)
• Motion to Limit Scope of Defendant’s Cross Examination (July 22, 2022)
• Griffin Motion to Quash and Dismiss (July 25, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Exhibit List (July 25, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Witness List (July 25, 2022) 
• Pretrial Order (July 27, 2022)
• Struck Deposition Transcript (July 27, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Motion (July 28, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Opposition (July 29, 2022)
• Pretrial Brief (July 29, 2022)
• Griffin Response (July 30, 2022) 
• Emergency Motion (Aug. 2, 2022) 
• Griffin Response (Aug. 2, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Letter to Judge (Aug. 4, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Revised Trial Exhibit (Aug. 5, 2022)
• Struck Deposition Transcript (Aug. 5, 2022) 
• Amended Hearing Notice (Aug. 8, 2022) 
• Griffin Reply (Aug. 8, 2022)
• Plaintiff Second Revised Exhibit List (Aug. 10, 2022)
• Plaintiff Motion for Surreply (Aug. 11, 2022)
• Trial Transcript (Aug. 15, 2022)
• Trial Transcript (Aug. 16, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Third Revised Exhibit List (Aug. 19, 2022) 
• Griffin Order (Aug. 23, 2022)
• Griffin Closing Argument (Aug. 29, 2022)
• Plaintiff Post Trial Brief (Aug. 29, 2022)
• Court’s Decision (Sept. 6, 2022)

Griffin 122-cv-00284

• Notice of Removal (Apr. 17, 2022)
• Motion to Transfer (Apr. 17, 2022)
• Griffin Opposition to Remand (Apr. 24, 2022)
• Griffin Opposition to Plaintiff Request (Apr. 27, 2022)
• Plaintiff Opposition to Griffin Motion (May 2, 2022)
• Order to Grant Motion (May 4, 2022)
• Reply of Motion (May 9, 2022)
• Notice of Completion (May 9, 2022) 
• Stipulation (May 9, 2022)
• Griffin Response (May 9, 2022) 
• Exhibit 1 (May 9, 2022)
• Exhibit 2 (May 9, 2022) 
• Plaintiff Response to Notice (May 11, 2022) 
• Exhibit (May 11, 2022)
• Griffin Reply (May 11, 2022)
• Order Clarifying Pleadings (May 12, 2022) 
• Griffin Notice (May 12, 2022)
• Griffin Notice (May 13, 2022)
• Exhibit (May 13, 2022)
• Griffin Reply (May 16, 2022)
• Memorandum Opinion and Order (May 27, 2022)

Griffin 1983 Suit-222-cv-00362

• Griffin Reply to Opposition (June 2, 2022)
• Griffin Supplemental Brief (June 10, 2022)
• Memorandum Opinion and Order (June 14, 2022)
• Memorandum Opinion and Order (June 28, 2022)

Amicus Curiae Briefs

• Scholar Brief (Aug. 1, 2022)
• Abrams Brief (Aug. 1, 2022)
• Amended Certificate (Aug. 1, 2022)
• Griffin Motion to Strike (Aug. 9, 2022)
• NAACP New Mexico State Conference Brief (Aug. 23, 2022)
• Common Cause in Support of Plaintiff Complaint (Aug. 25, 2022)
• Order Denying Motion for Consideration (Feb. 16, 2023)

Griffin Appeal to Supreme Court of New Mexico S-1-SC-39571

• Notice of Appeal (Sept. 22, 2022)
• Dismissing Order (Nov. 15, 2022)
• Motion to Reconsider (Nov. 16, 2022)
• Order Denying Motion for Reconsideration (Feb. 16, 2023)

Georgia Voters’ Challenge to Constitutional Qualifications of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene 

• Complaint (Mar. 24, 2022) 
• Notice of Hearing (Mar. 25, 2022)
• Motion to Take Party Deposition (Mar. 28, 2022) 
• Notice to Produce (Mar. 28, 2022) 
• Order Shortening Response Period (Mar. 30, 2022)
• Prehearing Order (Mar. 31, 2022)
• Motion to Stay Deposition (Apr. 3, 2022) 
• Objection to Notice to Produce (Apr. 3, 2022)
• Motion to Dismiss (Apr. 3, 2022)
• Order on Deposition (Apr. 4, 2022) 
• Subpoena to Rep. Greene (Apr. 5, 2022) 
• Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (Apr. 11, 2022) 
• Motion to Enforce Subpoena to Rep. Greene (Apr. 11, 2022) 
• Prehearing Order (Apr. 13, 2022) 
• Video Conference Before State Administrative Law Judge (Apr. 11, 2022)
• Petitioners’ Motion to Supplement the Record (Apr. 26, 2022)
• Greene’s Opposition to Petitioners’ Motion to Supplement the Record (Apr. 28, 2022)
• Post-Hearing Brief in Support of Petitioners’ Candidacy Challenge (Apr. 29, 2022) 
• Rep. Greene’s Post-Hearing Brief (Apr. 29, 2022)
• Administrative Law Judge’s Initial Decision (May 6, 2022) 
  • Transcript of the Proceeding
• Letter to Secretary Raffensperger (May 6, 2022)
• Secretary Raffensperger’s Final Decision (May 6, 2022) 

Rowan v. Raffensperger 

• Petition for Judicial Review (May 16, 2022) 
• Greene’s Answer and Counterclaims to Petition for Judicial Review (June 13, 2022)
• Briefing Schedule and Hearing Date (June 15, 2022)
• Secretary’s Response to Petition for Judicial Review (June 24, 2022)
• Greene’s Response to Petition for Judicial Review (June 24, 2022)
• Secretary’s Response to Greene’s Counterclaims (July 11, 2022)
• Reply Brief for Appeal of Secretary’s Decision (July 15, 2022)
• Transcript in Hearing for Appeal of Secretary’s Decision (July 18, 2022)
• Fulton County Superior Court Order (July 25, 2022)
• Petitioners’ Notice of Appeal (July 28, 2022)
• Appellants’ Motion to Expedite (Aug. 4, 2022)
• Greene’s Motion to Renew Stay (Aug. 15, 2022)
• Secretary Motion to Dismiss (Aug. 17, 2022) 
• Application for Discretionary Appeal (Aug. 19, 2022)
• Intervenors’ Response in Opposition to Motion to Renew Stay (Aug. 23, 2022)
• Intervenor-Respondent’s Response to Application for Discretionary Appeal (Aug. 26, 2022)
• Secretary’s Response to Application for Discretionary Appeal (Aug. 29, 2022) 

Greene v. Raffensperger (District Court)

• Plaintiff’s Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (Apr. 1, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Apr. 1, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Memorandum of Law in Support of Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Apr. 1, 2022) 
• Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction (Apr. 1, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Memorandum in Support of Motion for a Preliminary Injunction (Apr. 1, 2022)
• Rowan Intervenors’ Motion to Intervene (Apr. 4, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Opposition to Motion to Intervene (Apr. 6, 2022)
• State’s Opposition to Preliminary Injunction (Apr. 6, 2022) 
• Intervenor Defendants’ Opposition to Preliminary Injunction (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Apr. 7, 2022)
• District Court Order (Apr. 7, 2022) 
• Order Denying Motion for Injunction (Apr. 18, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Motion to Stay (June 1, 2022)
• Intervenors’ Response in Opposition to the Plaintiff’s Motion to Stay (June 2, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Motion to Stay (June 3, 2022)
• Defendants Raffensperger and Beaudrot’s Response to Plaintiff’s Motion to Stay (June 3, 2022) 
• Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (August 17, 2022)
• Intervenors’ Response in Support of Motion to Dismiss (Sept. 1, 2022)

Greene v. Raffensperger (11th Circuit)

• Appellant Brief (Apr. 27, 2022)
• Derek Muller’s Amicus Brief in Support of No Party (May 12, 2022)
• Intervenors Appellees’ Brief (June 14, 2022)
• Constitutional Accountability Center Amicus Brief (June 14, 2022)
• State Appellees Brief (June 14, 2022)
• Appellant’s Reply Brief (June 21, 2022) 
• Motion to Take Judicial Notice of State Appellees (July 28, 2022) 
• Appellant’s Motion to Take Judicial Notice (Aug. 2, 2022) 
• Oral Arguments (Aug. 11, 2022)
• Georgia Supreme Court Order Denying Discretionary Appeal (Sept. 1, 2022)
• Court Opinion (Nov. 3, 2022)

Arizona Voters’ Challenge to Constitutional Qualifications of Representatives Mark Finchem, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs

Before Arizona Superior Court:

• Gosar Complaint (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Gosar Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Discovery (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Biggs Complaint (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Biggs Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Discovery (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Finchem Complaint (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Finchem Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Discovery (Apr. 7, 2022)
• Finchem Order to Appear for Trial (Apr. 7, 2022) 
• Court Order Dismissing Case (Apr. 22, 2022)

Appeal before Supreme Court of Arizona:

• Opening Brief (Apr. 28, 2022)
• Appellants’ Appendix Part I (Apr. 28, 2022)
• Appellants’ Appendix Part II (Apr. 28, 2022)
• Reply Brief (May 2, 2022) 
• Decision Order (May 9, 2022) 

North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District’s Challenge to Constitutional Qualifications of Rep. Madison Cawthorn

• Complaint (Jan. 10, 2022)
• Challenge (Mar. 2, 2022) 

Cawthorn v. Circosta et al. 

• Cawthorn Complaint (Jan. 31, 2022)
• Cawthorn Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Jan. 31, 2022) 
• State’s Response to Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Feb. 7, 2022)
• Motion to Intervene as Defendants (Feb. 7, 2022)
• Opposition to Cawthorn’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Feb. 7, 2022) 
• Proposed Defendant-Intervenors’ Reply Memorandum in Further Support of Motion to Intervene as Defendants (Feb. 17, 2022) 
• Order Denying Motion to Intervene (Feb. 21, 2022) 
• Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Feb. 22, 2022) 
• Memorandum of Law in Support of State Board Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Feb. 22, 2022)
  • Backgrounder: Kyle Cheney, North Carolina officials reject Cawthorn claim that Constitution’s insurrectionist ban no longer applies, Politico (Feb. 23, 2022)
• Order Granting Motion to Consolidate (Feb. 22, 2022) 
• Draft Transcript of U.S. District Court Hearing in Cawthorne v. Circosta (Mar. 4, 2022)
• Emergency Motion for Stay of Injunction Pending Appeal (Mar. 9, 2022) 
• Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Mar. 10, 2022) 
  • Backgrounder: Jonathan Weisman, Judge Blocks Effort to Disqualify Cawthorn from Ballot as ‘Insurrectionist’, New York Times (Mar. 4, 2022)  
• Constitutional Accountability Center Amicus Brief (Mar. 11, 2022)
• Plaintiff’s Response to Motion to Stay (Mar. 14, 2022) 
• North Carolina GOP Amicus Brief (Mar. 14, 2022) 
• North Carolina State Board of Elections Amicus Brief (Mar. 14, 2022) 
• Challengers’ Reply in Support of Emergency Motion for Stay (Mar. 15, 2022)
• 4th Circuit Order (Mar. 17, 2022) 
• Renewed Motion to Intervene (Mar. 17, 2022) 
• Order Denying Renewed Motion to Intervene (Mar. 30, 2022)
• Emergency Motion for Stay of Injunction Pending Appeal (Mar. 31, 2022) 
• Second Amended Notice of Appeal of Proposed Defendant-Intervenors (Mar. 31, 2022)
• Motion to Expedite Appeal (Apr. 4, 2022) 
• Plaintiff’s Response to Renewed Motion to Stay (Apr. 5, 2022) 
• Appellant Opening Brief (Apr. 14, 2022)
• Constitutional Accountability Center Amicus Brief (Apr. 14, 2022)
• Derek Muller’s Amicus Brief in Support of No Party (Apr. 21, 2022)
• Cawthorn Brief as Appellee (Apr. 26, 2022)
• Reply Brief of Appellants (Apr. 29, 2022) 
• Appeals Court Opinion Cawthorn v. Amalfi (May 24, 2022) 
• Stipulation of Dismissal (June 30, 2022)
• Order of Dismissal (June 30, 2022) 

III. Proposed State Legislation 

• New York State Assembly Bill A2389, Restrict Insurrections from Office Taking (RIOT) Act  
• New York State Senate Bill S888, Restrict Insurrectionists from Office Taking (RIOT) Act 
• Connecticut State Senate Bill 244, An Act Concerning Eligibility to Hold Public Office or be Employed by the State or any Municipality
• Pennsylvania State Assembly Bill 2672, A Joint Resolution proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, further providing for ineligibility by criminal convictions and for removal of civil officers 
• Pennsylvania State Assembly Bill 2763, An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in obstructing governmental operations, providing for the offense of seditious conspiracy against the Commonwealth; and, in abuse of office, providing for the offense of seditious conspiracy against the Commonwealth while holding public office 
• Virginia State Assembly Bill 1562, A Bill to amend and reenact § 18.2-413 of the Code of Virginia, relating to insurrections; bar to serving in positions of public trust

The post Tracker: Litigation and Legislation on the “Insurrection Bar” to Office – Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment appeared first on Just Security.

A curated weekday guide to major national security news and developments over the weekend.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS 

In its second major airstrike in three days, Russia fired missiles at targets across Ukraine, hitting a railway hub in eastern Ukraine. The Russian strikes set a huge blaze in a southeastern district, Pavlohrad, a railway hub behind the southern and eastern fronts, where officials reported on Monday that 34 people were wounded, including children, and dozens of homes damaged. Ukraine officials said that 15 of 18 Russian cruise missiles were shot down, shielding the capital, Kyiv, and other major cities. The strikes follow 23 civilian deaths three days ago, where a Russian missile hit a high-rise apartment building in Uman, central Ukraine. “Ukrainian officials also released images of a scorched wasteland, and said an industrial enterprise was hit, which they did not identify. Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said the attack had damaged 19 apartment blocks, 25 houses, three schools, three kindergartens and several shops,” Reuters reports.

A Crimean oil depot erupted in fire after it was hit by two Ukrainian drones. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-installed governor of the Crimean port city Sevastopol, posted footage of the blaze on his Telegram channel. He said the fire caused no casualties and would not reduce the supply of fuel for Sevastopol. Ukraine did not openly claim responsibility, but emphasized its right to strike any target in response to aggression by Russia, which has controlled Crimea since its 2014 invasion of Ukraine. David Rising reports for AP. 

As Russia toughens penalties for men avoiding military service, more than 1,000 face criminal charges for offenses such as abandoning their units, and more than 1,100 have been convicted of evading military service. Penalties are harsh, such as 3 to 10 years for refusing an order to participate in combat, or sentences of years in a penal colony for trying to escape conscription. Neil MacFarquhar reports for the New York Times.

Pope Francis met with European leaders during a three-day visit to Budapest as part of a “mission” to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Francis said he discussed the situation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been on the outs with European Union leaders in Brussels and opposed military aid to Ukraine, and with Metropolitan Hilarion, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest. Before his trip, the Pope met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to discuss a “peace formula.” Jason Horowitz reports for the New York Times. 

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

JPMorgan Chase & Co is set to buy “the substantial majority of assets” of First Republic Bank and assume all of the lender’s deposits, insured and uninsured, in a deal arranged by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the independent government agency that insures deposits for bank customers. “The banking giant will take $173 billion of loans and about $30 billion of securities of First Republic Bank including $92 billion of deposits, JPMorgan said in a statement. It is not assuming the bank’s corporate debt or preferred stock,” Reuters reports. 

Former President Trump has asked the judge in the E. Jean Carroll defamation and battery case to declare a mistrial, arguing in a letter filed early this morning that the judge, Judge Lewis Kaplan, had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings” against Trump. Alternatively, said Trump attorney Joe Tacopina, lawyers would ask Judge Kaplan to “correct the record for each and every instance in which the Court has mischaracterized the facts of this case to the jury” or offer Tacopina greater leeway in cross examining Carroll. “Here, despite the fact trial testimony has been underway for only two days, the proceedings are already replete with numerous explanations of Defendant’s unfair treatment by the Court, most of which has been witnessed by the Jury,” the letter read. “Among the issues raised by Tacopina are the judge’s ruling restricting Tacopina from asking Carroll additional questions about any efforts Carroll made to try to obtain security camera footage from the department store, ‘expressing a corroborative view’ that there was no one on the sixth floor of the department store at the time of the alleged assault, and calling certain lines of the defense attorney’s questioning ‘argumentative’ in front of the jury,” Kara Scannell reports for CNN. 

Local and federal authorities were using tracking dogs and cell phone signals in a widening manhunt for Francisco Oropeza, who allegedly fatally shot five people in Cleveland, Texas. Officers found his cell phone abandoned and believe Oropeza is no longer in the area. Before the shooting, neighbors had asked Oropeza to stop firing a rifle in his yard because a baby was trying to sleep. Raja Razek, Andy Rose, and Ray Sanchez report for CNN. 

The FBI issued a statement Sunday night saying Oropeza was considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached by members of the public. Authorities were widening their search to as far as 20 miles from the location of the shooting. Andrea Blanco reports for The Independent, via Yahoo News.

The U.S. Army released the names of three soldiers killed in a mid-air collision between two military helicopters over Alaska. “The battalion is devastated and mourning the loss of three of our best,” said Lt. Col. Matthew C. Carlsen, commander of Alaska-based 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation. The cause of the collision is under investigation by a team from the Alabama-based U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center. Dennis Romero reports for NBC. 

The Justice Department is investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies raised more than $250 million to press his allegations of election fraud in 2020 that they knew to be false. “The Justice Department, with its ability to bring criminal charges, has been able to prompt more extensive cooperation from a number of witnesses. And prosecutors have developed more information than the House committee did.” Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer, and Jonathan Swan report for the New York Times.

Historic snowmelts in California are raising flooding risks. As temperatures warm after record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada, parts of California’s Central Valley – which includes Sacramanto and Fresno – face the risk of damaging floods. More than 500 inches of snow fell in some areas during a historic winter season. Evan Bush, Jiachuan Wu, and Kathryn Prociv report for NBC News. 

Regulators on the California Air Resources Board approved a ban on the sale of new big rigs and buses running on diesel by 2036, and new carbon dioxide-emitting trucks by 2045. “This rule provides manufacturers, truck owners and fueling providers the assurance that there will be a market and the demand for zero-emissions vehicles, while providing a flexible path to making the transition toward clean air,” said Liane Randolph, chair of the board. California now awaits a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency to legally enforce the rule. Neelam Bohra and Coral Davenport report for the New York Times. 

U.S. RELATIONS

The United States has facilitated the departure of almost 1,000 American citizens from Sudan, as a second convoy from Khartoum arrived at Port Sudan.  The convoy of eight buses on Sunday followed another the previous day of 18 buses carrying several hundred American evacuees. “The death toll from the crisis in Sudan has climbed over 500, according to the World Health Organization, with thousands more wounded.” CBS News reports 

President Joe Biden meets with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines at the White House on Monday. The talks are scheduled amid growing concerns over China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, including harassing Philippine navy and coast guard patrols. Biden and Marcos also are due to discuss new economic, education, and climate initiatives during the four-day visit, the first in more than a decade by a president of the Philippines. Aamer Madhani and Jim Gomez report for AP. 

The U.N. working group on arbitrary detention has called for the immediate release of Guantánamo “forever prisoner” Abu Zubaydah, saying his detention has no basis in law. The U.N. body’s decision, the first issued against the United States regarding Zubaydah’s detention, urged the U.S. government to close the facility and expressed “grave concern about the pattern that all” cases at Guantánamo follow and recalled that, “under certain circumstances, widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law may constitute crimes against humanity.” The opinion marks the first international decision against multiple states for their distinct contributions and “joint responsibility.” “Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom played a role in the extraordinary rendition programme, whether through directly detaining persons subjected to it, or through knowingly assisting the implementation of the programme through transport access and the provision of locations for unregistered detention sites. These States are all jointly responsible for the arrest, rendition and arbitrary detention of Mr. Zubaydah,” the decision stated. Julian Borger reports for The Guardian. 

Newly released government photographs reveal key moments inside the White House during the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound. Through Freedom of Information Act and Presidential Records Act requests, the Washington Post obtained more than 900 photos of the event, including images of former President Barack Obama watching the video feed of the raid and shaking hands with top officials. Nate Jones reports for the Washington Post. 

North Korea has criticized the recent U.S.-South Korea agreement to strengthen Seoul’s defenses and regularly deploy U.S. strategic assets to the region, warning  it would escalate tension to the “brink of a nuclear war.” State media KCNA reported on Monday that a summit held last week between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, during which Biden promised to furnish Seoul with more insight into American nuclear planning over any conflict with North Korea, had put the peninsula in a “quagmire of instability.” A U.S. Navy nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine will also visit South Korea for the first time since the 1980s. “KCNA said the agreement stipulated the allies’ willingness to take ‘the most hostile and aggressive action’ against North Korea, citing Choe Ju Hyon, whom it described as an international security analyst,” Reuters reports.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi was killed in Syria by Turkish forces this weekend, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. IS selected al-Qurashi as its leader in November after its previous leader was killed in an operation in southern Syria. “Syrian local and security sources said the raid took place in the northern Syrian town of Jandaris, which is controlled by Turkey-backed rebel groups…One resident said clashes started on the edge of Jandaris overnight from Saturday into Sunday, lasting for about an hour before residents heard a large explosion,” Reuters reports. 

Eight tons of medical aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross landed in Sudan on Sunday. While many foreign nationals have been evacuated and thousands of local families fled for the city of Shendi, those remaining in Khartoum face shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity. Mitchell McCluskey, Eyad Kourdi, Heather Chen and journalists in Sudan report for CNN. 

Sudan’s health care system is facing the risk of total collapse. Health care services continue to deteriorate in the capital Khartoum, as fighting enters its third week. The Sudan Doctors’ Trade Union warned that the system could completely collapse within days. Lynsey Chutel reports for the New York Times. 

Russia vowed retaliation after Polish authorities seized the Russian Embassy School in Warsaw, asking employees to leave the campus premises. Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the action as “controversial, illegal and provocative,” while Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina said the property “belongs to the Polish state and was taken by Russia illegally.” The school will continue operating from a different part of the Russian embassy. Xiaofei Xu and Darya Tarasova report for CNN.

The post Early Edition: May 1, 2023 appeared first on Just Security.

This year’s conference served as a midterm review of the Water Action Decade (2018-2028). U.N Secretary-General António Guteres had said the conference must result in a “bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world’s lifeblood the commitment it deserves.” The conference aimed to foster greater discussion on water-related issues, including access to potable water and sanitation, sustainable development, climate resilience, and international water cooperation.

The U.N. released its 2023 World Water Development Report on the first day of the conference. The summit also came on the heels of the publication of a synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body of leading climate experts that had convened in Switzerland last week. The synthesis report draws from several assessments, among them the body’s Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. 

Over 2,000 individuals attended the conference. As the Secretary-General had urged, the summit closed with the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, containing nearly 700 commitments to safeguarding water. General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi thanked participants for $300 billion in pledges toward the Water Action Agenda during the conference, which he said had the “potential of unlocking at least one trillion dollars of socioeconomic and ecosystem gains.”

During the conference, Just Security followed the U.N. Water Conference’s notable moments. This page was updated to reflect meetings, speeches, and more.

Relevant Documents

Reports

Global Water Security 2023 Assessment, United Nations University, March 23, 2023

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: Partnerships and cooperation for water, UNESCO, March 22, 2023

Synthesis Report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, IPCC, March 19, 2023

Triple Threat: How disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination for children, UNICEF, March 2023

Friday, March 24, 2023

Notable Events

• Plenary (10:00 AM ET)
  • Member States and the European Union, as well as intergovernmental organizations, associate members of regional commissions, specialized agencies, interested United Nations Organs, and representatives of accredited NGOs and other stakeholders, continued to give statements.3

• Interactive Dialogue: Water Action Decade: Accelerating the implementation of the objectives of the Decade, including through the UN Secretary-General’s Action Plan (10:00 AM ET) 
  • This dialogue focused on implementation of the Water Action Agenda, assessing the efficacy of the Water Action Decade at the political level, and strengthening multilateralism around water.

• Informal Special Event: Water Leadership: Uniting for a Sustainable World (10:00 AM ET)
  • This event centered on developing mechanisms to reflect the voices of youth, women, local authorities, Indigenous Peoples, and discriminated and marginalized communities in water leadership.

• Plenary (3:00 PM ET) 
  • The Conference concluded with reporting on the interactive dialogues. President of the General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi, U.N. Secretary General António Gutteres, and U.N. Water Chair Gilbert F. Houngbo gave closing remarks.

Notable Quotes

• Csaba Kőrösi (@Csaba_Korosi_), President, U.N. General Assembly
  • “I am amazed by the ambition and solidarity you show in devising a water-secure future for all. . . towards an inspiring, cooperative, transboundary, transformative Water Action Agenda for sustainable development and resilience. An Agenda for which you have pledged more than 300 billion US dollars at this conference, with the potential of unlocking at least one trillion dollars of socioeconomic and ecosystem gains.”
• António Guterres (@antonioguterres), Secretary-General, United Nations
  • “This conference demonstrated a central truth: as humanity’s most previous global common good, water unites us all, and it flows across a number of global challenges.”
  • “Without water, there can be no sustainable development. As we leave this historic conference, let’s re-commit to our common future. Let’s take the next steps in our journey to a water-secure future for all.”
• Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
  • “The [Water Action Agenda] commitments covered a wide range of actions, from capacity building to data and the monitoring systems, to improving the resilience of the infrastructures. There are now 700 commitments in the agenda, in the action agenda, and this is only the beginning.
• Henk Ovink (@henkovink), Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, the Netherlands
  • “We see a pact for the future of water is core and central. This conference did not give us the mandate to do so, but we brought the world together to ensure that there is a follow-up… We’ve been working very hard on getting this conference right. After the conference, the world has to continue working hard to get water right.”
• Hania Pérez de Cuéllar (@HPerezDeCuellar), Minister of Housing, Construction and Sanitation, Peru
  • “I call on all Peruvian, Latin American and world leaders of the member countries to get out of the comfort zone, roll up our sleeves, put on our boots and lead the political, social, cultural and economic transformation that we need to face enormous challenges that our peoples demand in particular with the drinking water and sanitation agenda. It is not a matter of financial resources. It is, above all, about leadership and political will.”
• Usha Rao-Monari (@RaoMonari), Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
  • “We must work with local communities to better manage their ecosystems focusing on improved resilience through nature-based solutions, among others. And we should focus on partnerships that enable impact at scale, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries to ensure investments in access resilience and quality by combining financial flows to drive down the cost of capital and ensure the highest impact.”

Thursday, March 23, 2023 

Notable Events

• Plenary (10:00 AM ET)
  • Member States and the European Union, as well as intergovernmental organizations, associate members of regional commissions, specialized agencies, interested United Nations Organs, and representatives of accredited NGOs and other stakeholders all gave statements.

• Interactive Dialogue: Water for Climate, Resilience and Environment: Source to Sea, Biodiversity, Climate, Resilience and DRR (10:00 AM ET) 
  • Participants discussed the linkages among water, climate, and environment; barriers to providing information for improved water management; and mechanisms for incentivizing environmental protection.

• Informal Special Event: Reducing inequalities – implementing Human Rights (10:00 AM ET)
  • This event spotlighted equality and human rights in addressing the global water crisis. It featured contributions from Indigenous Peoples, peasant communities, people living in informal human settlements in the periphery of large cities, and impoverished and marginalized groups.

• Plenary (3:00 PM ET)
  • Member States and the European Union, as well as intergovernmental organizations, associate members of regional commissions, specialized agencies, interested United Nations Organs, and representatives of accredited NGOs and other stakeholders, gave statements.

• Interactive Dialogue: Water for Cooperation: Transboundary and International Water Cooperation, Cross Sectoral Cooperation, including Scientific Cooperation, and Water Across the 2030 Agenda (3:00 PM ET) 
  • This dialogue raised questions about accelerating arrangements and joint bodies for water cooperation for all transboundary rivers, lakes, and aquifers by 2030. It also focused on issues surrounding the implementation of inclusive and cross-sectoral governance in support of integrated water resources management. It also addressed the gap in the funding and financing of water cooperation.

• Informal Special Event: The Economics of Water: transforming governance to secure a sustainable, just and prosperous future (3:00 PM ET) 
  • This event underscored the importance of the Water Action Agenda. It highlighted the need to safeguard the global water cycle as a global common good and the governance conditions that are necessary for a more just use of water. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) also presented key findings for discussion.

Notable Quotes

• Olga Algayerova (@algayerova), Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
  • “Only 24 countries worldwide have all their transboundary basin area covered by operational arrangements. Lack of cooperation on shared waters hinders the achievement of other SDGs and creates risks of conflicts over dwindling water resources.”
  • “Climate change severely affects transboundary basins. Unilateral adaptation measures can lead to maladaptation, transfer of risks, and tensions. On the contrary, transboundary cooperation makes adaptation more effective through sharing of data, costs, and benefits.”
• Kaveh Madani (@KavehMadani), Director, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
  • “If we don’t do enough for water, for the SDG 6, we will undermine the progress on the other SDGs. Whatever we want to do and deliver would have a relationship and interdependence on water. So unless we have serious action, unless we can make meaningful progress on SDG 6, we cannot deliver and fulfill the goals that we have by 2030.”
• Ilze Brands Kehris (@UNHumanRights), Assistant Secretary-General, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • “We are focusing particularly on indigenous peoples, women and youth. So let’s remember also the intersectionality. Let’s remember that there are some even within these groups who are even more vulnerable and exposed than others, and we need to find proper solutions from that.” 
  • “The framework for human rights to water and sanitation means that we have to prioritize water for personal domestic uses. That is an obligation by states, and obligation for the progressive realization of these rights. And of course, that also means that there has to be proper participation, and it’s not participation by being at the table or being in a room. It’s participation in decision making.”
• Francisco Cali Tzay, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • “The exclusion of indigenous peoples in the management of water and sanitation has had an impact. It’s racist and discriminatory and it’s impacted their socio-economic life and their human rights. In particular, I’ve noted how national water management systems work in most cases without the consent of indigenous peoples, or despite the fact that indigenous peoples have been granted the human rights to self-determination.”
• Mami Mizutori (@HeadUNDRR), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction / Head, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
  • “Water, too much or too little, is the element that connects 90 percent of disasters around the world. And with climate change, it is increasingly difficult for communities to manage water-related disaster risks. Last week, the UN Economic Commission for Africa reported that African countries are spending up to 9 percent of their budgets to respond to extreme weather events. And disasters impede sustainable development but are a matter of survival for many developing countries.”
• Dr Musonda Mumba (@MumbaMusondam), Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
  • “We have no time. We’re running out of time because . . . we’ve already lost over 33 percent of wetland surfaces and in fact we are losing wetlands three times faster than forest.”
• David Cooper (@hdavidcooper), Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
  • “We currently spend an order of magnitude more destroying nature than we do protecting it, so there’s a target to reduce harmful subsidies for biodiversity by at least 500 million a year by 2030.”

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Notable Events

• Plenary Opening (9:30 AM ET) 
  • At the Plenary Opening, consideration was given to all procedural and organizational matters, including the adoption of the rules of procedure and the agenda, the election of the two Presidents of the Conference, and arrangements for the preparation of the Report of the Conference. Statements were made by the Presidents of the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General of the Conference and the Chair of UN-Water. 

• Interactive Dialogue: Water for Health: Access to WASH, including the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation (10:00 AM ET)
  • This dialogue highlighted obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Participants also discussed accelerating national and local government action towards water, sanitation, hygiene and wastewater treatment issues and the best way to track action over the next eight years. 

• Plenary (3:00 PM ET) 
  • Member States and the European Union gave statements. Intergovernmental organizations, associate members of regional commissions, specialized agencies, interested United Nations Organs, and representatives of accredited NGOs and other stakeholders also delivered statements.

• Interactive Dialogue: Water for Sustainable Development: Valuing Water, Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Sustainable Economic and Urban Development (3:00 PM ET)  
  • This dialogue focused on mechanism development for stakeholder engagement across the interlinkages of water, food, and energy. It also included discussion of how best to resolve the existing impasse between a rights-based and a valuation-based approach to water management, achieve greater efficiency in the agrifood chain in support of water management, and create incentives for innovation in water governance and finance. 

• Informal Special Event: Radical Collaboration for Water Resilience: Action with our greatest Allies in the Climate Crisis (3:00 PM ET) 
  • This event explored the need to rethink the climate and water crisis. Participants contemplated inspiring change by examining water and its values, exploring the conditions that drive new models of collaboration, and showcasing elements that enable impact. The session concluded with concrete commitments to action from key stakeholder groups as contributions to the Water Action Agenda. 

Notable Quotes 

• António Guterres (@antonioguterres), Secretary-General, United Nations
  • “We are draining humanity’s lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating. We’ve broken the water cycle, destroyed ecosystems and contaminated groundwater.”
  • “Governments must develop and implement plans that ensure equitable water access for all people while conserving this precious resource.” 
  • “These silent giants [glaciers] are facing a rude awakening. Human activity is driving our planet’s temperature to dangerous new heights. Global warming is a global warning that we are on the wrong track. And melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine.” 
• Csaba Kőrösi (@Csaba_Korosi_), President, United Nations General Assembly 
  • “We know that we cannot fulfill our promise of sustainability, economic stability and global well-being by speeding up conventional solutions. We neither have time nor planet. There is simply not enough fresh water left anymore. Water that flows freely in rivers, across boundaries and that is distributed over the globe in the form of atmospheric rivers is now severely lacking.”
  • “This conference is not a venue to negotiate positions, advantages, and compromise. I invite you to deliberate solutions that are science-based, sustainable, pragmatic and in solidarity. Solutions that will flow into the Water Action Agenda.” 
• Emomali Rahmon (@EmomaliRahmon), UN Water Conference President, Tajikistan
  • “We need to make joint efforts to achieve specific results and follow up on the agreement reached with a view to decently meet the expectations of the international community.”
• Willem-Alexander (@koninklijkhuis), UN Water Conference President, The Netherlands
  • “I’m also happy to see that the younger generation is highly motivated and ready to help find solutions. But as they themselves have said, we can’t leave all the problem solving up to them. It is our responsibility to do everything we can.”
  • “Follow the example of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. See collaboration in the murky waters of contrasts. Water is our common ground. There’s so much to discover and achieve.” 
• Meelis Münt (@MOEestonia), Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment, Estonia
  • “As we know, more than 60% of freshwater resources are divided by two or more countries. And therefore, I am convinced that transboundary water cooperation is crucial for peace and security for sustainable development and climate action.”

IMAGE: The Murchison Falls, one of the natural sites in Africa where the government has a plan to build a hydroelectric dam on the Victoria Nile at Murchison Falls National Park, northwest Uganda. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

The post Tracking the United Nations 2023 Water Conference: Notable Moments and Key Themes appeared first on Just Security.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified on March 1 for the first time before the new Congress at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “Oversight of the Department of Justice.” Buried in wide-ranging testimony was an exchange about the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). A week later, on March 8, during a rare public Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, “Worldwide Threats,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other intelligence community leaders reaffirmed Section 702’s importance amidst discussion on great power competition, the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, and nuclear proliferation. Just Security recently ran a series featuring pieces by Elizabeth Goitein and Ashely Gorski on surveillance under the Act, and published an article on the topic by George Croner, who has criticized proposed FISA reforms.

The Biden administration has amplified efforts to push for Section 702 reauthorization prior to its expiration on December 31, 2023. In a January keynote speech at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Public Forum, National Security Agency Director General Paul M. Nakasone underscored the important role Section 702 plays in allowing the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreign government’s plans and strategic intentions. On Feb. 28, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan released a statement reaffirming that the Biden administration considers the reauthorization of Section 702, along with other expiring FISA provisions, to be a “top priority.” That same day, Garland and Haines sent a letter to Senate and House leadership regarding Title VII of FISA, and in particular Section 702. The letter outlines the statute’s role in ensuring national and cyber security, and strongly urges its prompt reauthorization.

Garland Testifies Before the Senate Judiciary Committee

In his congressional testimony on March 1, Garland outlined his reasons for supporting reauthorization. He stated that “an enormously large percentage of the threats information” that he receives daily “all threats” briefings with the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s National Security Division (NSD) stem from intelligence collected under Section 702 authority. Examples he gave include materials relevant to threats related to Ukraine, as well as to threats by foreign terrorist organizations and other state adversaries, such as China, North Korea, Iran, and Russa. Additionally, he credited Section 702 collection with contributing to the DOJ’s cybersecurity enforcement efforts, including by providing information vital to ransomware investigations and to obtaining decryption keys. He concluded that, without Section 702, “we would be intentionally blinding” both the United States and our allies “to extraordinary danger.”

In support of Garland’s testimony, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that “without going into any classified information,” Section 702 “was instrumental in preventing major catastrophic aggression against our nation and also helping our allies like Ukrainians with intelligence that was extremely critical to pushing back the Russians.” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), meanwhile, cited skepticism of the Department’s independence — a common refrain in Republican questioning of Garland during the hearing—as a basis to withhold reauthorization until the Department undertook “major reforms.” He asserted that “the current standard for a warrantless backdoor search of the content of communications of American persons is reasonably likely to return evidence of a crime.” Referencing a recently declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Lee expressed concern about non-compliant searches, including “searches of prospective FBI employees, members of a political party, individuals recommended to participate in the FBI citizens’ academy, journalists, and even a Congressman.”

In contemporaneously submitted written testimony and responses to senators’ queries for the record, Garland and DOJ again highlighted that Section 702 surveillance is crucial to the state’s ability to gather foreign intelligence information about non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States. It emphasized the guardrails in place to prevent abuses, including “robust targeting, minimization, and querying procedures to protect the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons.” DOJ further underscored its corrective measures to strengthen accuracy in FISA applications through new mechanisms, including providing NSD attorneys with information that could “undermine a probable cause determination” and enforcing new training requirements for FBI personnel and DOJ lawyers. Lastly, oversight of FISA applications has been expanded to include “completeness reviews” intended to ensure the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC, or colloquially, the “FISA Court”) is provided with accurate and complete FBI case files for a probable cause determination. The FISC is charged with issuing relevant warrants under FISA, including those that authorize electronic surveillance or a physical search.

Top Intelligence Community Leaders Testify Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Top intelligence officials’ testimony at the March 8 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing reaffirmed Section 702’s crucial role in mitigating national security threats. Haines noted that Section 702 permits intelligence-gathering against foreign targets “at a speed and reliability” that the United States “cannot replicate with any other authority.” The authority helped ensure that the ODNI delivered an accurate 2023 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, she testified, and played a “key role” in the U.S. government’s operations against former Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Haines also told the Committee that the authority is crucial for countering malicious cyber actors targeting critical U.S. infrastructure and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. FBI Director Christopher Wray similarly testified that Section 702 is vital to efforts to stymie China’s hacking program, which is “bigger than [those of] every major nation combined;” Russia’s “significant” use of cyber “as an asymmetric weapon;” and Iran’s “efforts to conduct destructive [cyber] attacks even in the United States.” He suggested that each of these powers is “trying to build pre-positioned capabilities” they might deploy during “a much more serious conflict.”

The officials also underscored that Section 702 does not authorize collection of information on American citizens. Gen. Paul Nakasone, the Director of the National Security Agency, agreed with Sen. Rounds’ (R-SD) characterization that Section 702 targets non-U.S. persons outside of the country who are using platforms with a nexus to U.S. communications systems. However, Nakasone added, when foreigners operating outside the United States reference someone in the United States in their communications, the intelligence community follows protocols to “minimize” and “hide that data” in order to protect the civil liberties and privacy of U.S. persons. Wray similarly testified that he was “very pleased to be able to share with the Committee…publicly for the first time that we saw in 2022 a 93 year-over-year drop in U.S. person queries.”

FISA is set to expire in December 2023 unless reauthorized.

IMAGE: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The post Attorney General Merrick Garland and Intelligence Community Leaders Testify on the Reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA appeared first on Just Security.

Автор: Клара Епт. Переклад статті здійснила Катерина Бакай.

Задовго до повномасштабного нападу президента Росії Володимира Путіна на Україну в лютому і навіть до його вторгнення та захоплення Криму в 2014 році, аналітики з тривогою відзначали інакший вид ескалації – загрозливу риторику щодо України з боку Путіна та залежних від нього суб’єктів. Щонайменше у 2008 чи 2009 роках, дедалі більш ворожа мова заклала основу для заперечення існування України як держави, національної групи та культури.

Нижче наведено добірку загальнодоступних заяв (ми закликаємо читачів надіслати електронною поштою будь-яку інформацію, яку ми могли пропустити).

Такі експерти, як Франсін Хірш, професор історії Університету Вісконсін-Медісон і автор “Радянського суду в Нюрнберзі”, вказали на цю риторику як на доказ наміру вчинення геноциду щодо українського народу. Те, яким чином і чи взагалі поняття “геноциду” застосовується до російських діянь проти України, є предметом дискусії попри посилання в статті II Конвенції про запобігання злочину геноциду на “намір повністю або частково знищити національну, етнічну, расову або релігійну групу як таку.” Дотичне питання, яке знаходиться під дискусією – це поняття, яке часто називають “культурним геноцидом”, і яке загалом означає умисне знищення ідентичності групи навіть за відсутності масових вбивств. “Ці заклики до “деукраїнізації” є спонуканням до геноциду: “знищити, повністю чи частково” українську націю”, – написав Гірш у квітні. А професор історії Єльського університету Тімоті Снайдер, посилаючись на ту саму статтю в російському виданні РИА Новости, яка спонукала Гірша до висновку, написав: “Росія щойно випустила посібник з геноциду для своєї війни з Україною.”

Бет Ван Шаак, пані посол США з особливих доручень з глобального кримінального правосуддя, на травневих слуханнях Комітету із закордонних справ Сенату у відповідь на питання про звірства Росії, які з’являються в Україні, сказала, що “дещо з риторики геноциду, яку ми чуємо зі сторони Росії, є вкрай тривожним.”

У доповіді Інституту “New Lines” та Центру з прав людини Рауля Валленберга зроблено висновок, що “Росія несе відповідальність за порушення статті II і статті III (c) Конвенції про запобігання злочину геноциду”, і “що існує, безсумнівно, дуже серйозний ризик геноциду, що спричиняє обов’язок держав щодо запобігання відповідно до статті I Конвенції про геноцид.” Серед доказів, на які здійснено посилання у доповіді, є низка заяв, які, за його словами, становлять “пряме та публічне підбурювання до вчинення геноциду”, зокрема заперечення існування української ідентичності; звинувачення України, всупереч доказам, у вчиненні саме тих звірств, які Росія вчиняє або планує вчинити; і дегуманізуюча риторика.

Хоча був проведений доволі широкий аналіз путінської та російської риторики, він може створити фрагментарну картину тенденції з добірками відповідних уривків, розкиданих по статтях, соціальних мережах, книгах, аудіо та відео. Опублікована підбірка прагне зібрати приклади таких тверджень в одному місці. Вони організовані в хронологічній послідовності і однозначно не є вичерпними, оскільки, як виявили експерти з моніторингу російських медіа, Джулія Девіс та Френсіс Скарр, такі заяви зараз все частіше зустрічаються в різних медіа, підконтрольних уряду Росії.

Заяви варіюються від офіційних президентських звернень і статей Путіна та інших офіційних осіб до коментарів на російському державному телебаченні та в соціальних мережах. Джерела включають (але не обмежуються) новинними статтями, книгами, кремлівським онлайн-архівом промов і звернень, російськими державними інформаційними агентствами, зокрема РИА Новости та Коммерсант, і публікаціями в Twitter і Telegram.

Ця збірка, викладена у хронологічному порядку, зосереджена на ключових словах, фразах та/або темах, які виражають намір російського уряду ліквідувати Україну чи українців як національну державу, народ чи культуру. Повторювані концепції включають поняття історичної єдності Росії та України, заперечення української нації та концептуалізацію “українізму” як фашистської загрози російському суверенітету. У ході розвитку війни дуже важливо відстежувати ці заяви про наміри для їх подальшого використання аналітиками, дипломатами, політиками, прокурорами тощо.

 Ми дякуємо Максиму Віщику за внесення оновлень до цього списку.

(Читачі також можуть бути зацікавлені у статті Елізабет Ваткотт “Збірка заяв країн, які називають дії Росії в Україні “геноцидом”.)

ЗОБРАЖЕННЯ: Реакція людей, коли вони зібралися біля братської могили в місті Буча, на північний захід від столиці України Києва, 3 квітня 2022 року. (Фото Сергія Супінського/AFP через Getty Images)

Про авторку

Клара Епт – студентка другого курсу бакалаврату в коледжі мистецтв і наук Нью-Йоркського університету та помічниця редактора у Just Security.

The post Риторика Росії проти України, спрямована на винищення: підбірка appeared first on Just Security.

A central question in the Mar-a-Lago espionage and stolen documents investigation involves former President Donald Trump’s knowledge and involvement in retaining government records. We have compiled a comprehensive account of the publicly available information that addresses that question. Especially significant findings are highlighted in red text. 

Readers should decide for themselves what conclusions they reach based on the record below. On our view, the record as a whole points to Trump’s culpability based on evidence that

• Trump was warned in late 2021 by his former White House lawyer that it was unlawful to retain the documents, especially classified information;
• Trump personally sorted through the documents in late 2021;
• Trump’s personal knowledge and possession, access, and control of the documents is indicated by the quantity, content, and location of documents with classified markings (including intermingled with personal belongings) and by his admissions on Truth Social;
• Trump repeatedly stated privately that the documents were his to possess and he was not willing to deliver them to the government;
• Trump aides repeatedly tried to get him to return the documents to the government;
• Trump was repeatedly put on notice by Archives and Justice Department that his retention of the documents was unlawful and a potential threat to national security; 
• Trump was apparently involved in obstructive acts of trying to conceal documents from the government after receiving a subpoena. 

I. Undated

Trump’s direct knowledge of documents and familiarity with the records’ contents:

“Several of the documents [retrieved by the Archives on Jan. 18, 2022] also contained what appears to be FPOTUS’s handwritten notes.” [FBI Affidavit accompanying search warrant application]

“Multiple documents [retrieved by DOJ and FBI on June 3, 2022 under subpoena] also contained what appears to be FPOTUS’s handwritten notes.”[FBI Affidavit (less redacted) accompany search warrant application, Aug. 5, 2022 (less redacted version released Sept. 13, 2022)]

II. During Presidency

As President, Trump’s White House Counsel released a memorandum concerning presidential records:

February 2017: Trump appointed White House Counsel Don McGahn to serve as his representative to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). [Designation Letter] 

The following week, McGahn issued a “MEMORANDUM FOR ALL PERSONNEL” with the subject, “Presidential Records Act Obligations.” The Memorandum stated:

When you leave EOP employment, you may not take any presidential records with you. You also may not take copies of any presidential records without prior authorization from the Counsel’s office. The willful destruction or concealment of federal records is a federal crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. [Memorandum] 

As President, Trump held onto classified documents:

“Trump had a habit of grabbing intelligence documents,” said [John] Bolton, who has been a sharp critic of the former president. “God knows what he did with it.’” [NBC News]

“Trump seemed especially fond of his correspondence from Kim. Bolton, in an interview, mentioned a letter that Trump had gotten from the North Korean leader and said that ‘John Kelly took it from him and we put it back in the right place.’ (Kelly confirmed the account). ‘We gave Trump a copy of it back. He had a habit of taking stuff and you’d never see it again.’” [NBC News]

“‘Intelligence briefers used to find a way to get inside his head and would bring along a picture – a chart or a graph or something like that – and hand it to him across the Resolute Desk,’ said John R. Bolton, a former national security adviser to Mr. Trump. ‘Sometimes he would say: ‘Hey, this is interesting. Can I keep this?’” [New York Times]

“Not every official could successfully retrieve a document that Mr. Trump took an interest in, former officials said.” [New York Times]

“‘Any documents that made it to the White House residence were these boxes Trump carried around with him,’ explained Stephanie Grisham, a former senior White House staffer. ‘Usually the body man would have brought them upstairs for Trump or someone from the outer-Oval at the end of the day. They would get handed off to the residence and just disappear.’” [Washington Post]

“Mr. Trump repeatedly had material sent up to the White House residence, and it was not always clear what happened to it. He sometimes asked to keep material after his intelligence briefings, but aides said he was so uninterested in the paperwork during the briefings themselves that they never understood what he wanted it for.” [New York Times]

“Several former officials interviewed for this article who remembered Mr. Trump occasionally taking a document from a classified briefing or requesting a document from the National Security Council staff said the material he collected in those instances could not have added up to the hundreds of pages in dozens of boxes retrieved by the government from Mar-a-Lago.” [New York Times]

Trump’s aides urged him to follow the law concerning presidential records:

Trump was “urged by at least two chiefs of staff and the White House counsel to follow the law on preserving documents.” [Washington Post]

A former White House records analyst, Solomon Lartey, “said someone in the White House chief of staff’s office told the president that the documents were considered presidential records and needed to be preserved by law.” [PBS] 

Trump’s top aides stated attempts to return documents to Archives:

Late 2020: “Notes from conversations among White House staff members indicate that there are discussions about material that Mr. Trump had been amassing, and how to get it back and make sure the documents are properly handled. Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, tells others he will take care of it, according to people familiar with the matter.” [New York Times]

Note: The New York Times adds that “it is unclear whether [Meadows] ever talks to Mr. Trump” about this matter.

Trump personally helps pack boxes, and retains documents that should have been sent to NARA prior to leaving office:

January 2021: “As Trump grudgingly began to pack up his belongings, he included documents that should have been sent to the National Archives and Records Administration, along with the news articles and gifts he received while president, several former officials said.” [Washington Post] 

“He and others put briefing books, gifts, news clippings and other possessions into boxes, some in the residence and others in different locations throughout the White House.” [Washington Post]

Trump’s top legal counsel assessment of need to return documents to Archives:

“The Archives battle to secure records from Trump began while he was still president, according to records reviewed by The Post. Gary M. Stern, the agency’s top lawyer, began asking the former president’s attorneys to return two dozen boxes in the residency of the White House before he left. In an email Stern wrote to others, Trump’s counsel, Pat Cipollone, agreed with him. But Trump did not return them.” [Washington Post]

“‘It is also our understanding that roughly two dozen boxes of original presidential records were kept in the Residence of the White House over the course of President Trump’s last year in office and have not been transferred to NARA, despite a determination by Pat Cipollone in the final days of the administration that they need to be,’ wrote Gary Stern, the agency’s chief counsel, in an email to Trump lawyers in May 2021, according to a copy reviewed by the Washington Post.” [Washington Post]

Note: It is unknown whether Cipollone communicated his views1445 to President Trump and/or Mark Meadows.

III. Post-Presidency (unspecified dates)

Evidence of knowledge: Large volume of classified documents:

January 17-18 2022: National Archives recovers documents:

• 14 of 15 boxes contained documents bearing classification markings
• 184 unique documents bearing classification markings
  • 67 documents marked as Confidential
  • 92 documents marked as Secret
  • 25 documents marked as Top Secret
  • “FBI agents observed markings reflecting that the documents were subject to sensitive compartments and dissemination controls used to restrict access to material in the interest of national security” including HCS, FISA, ORCON, NOFORN, and SI.
  • “In its initial review of materials within those boxes, NARA identified items marked as classified national security information, up to the level of Top Secret and including Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Program materials.” [National Archives letter to Trump attorney, May 10, 2022]

The first 100 documents marked as classified totaled over 700 pages[National Archives letter to Trump attorney, May 10, 2022]

[Government response to Trump motion for return of property and Special Master (Aug. 30, 2022); FBI Redacted Affidavit for search warrant (Aug. 5, 2022)]

June 3, 2022: DOJ officials meet at Mar-a-Lago and recover documents pursuant to a subpoena:

• Trump’s counsel provide a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape
• Trump’s counsel “indicated that the documents had come from boxes inside of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago.”
• 37 unique documents bearing classification markings
  • 5 documents marked as Confidential
  • 16 documents marked as Secret
  • 17 documents marked as Top Secret
  • “FBI agents observed markings reflecting the following caveats/compartments, among others: HCS, SI, and FISA.”

[Government reply to Trump motion for return of property and Special Master, Aug. 30, 2022; Justice Department application for disclosure of subpoena; FBI Affidavit (less redacted) accompany search warrant application, Aug. 5, 2022 (less redacted version released Sept. 13, 2022); U[date: Brief of United States, Full appeal to 11th Circuit (Oct. 14, 2022), at p. 7 n.3 (explaining accurate number is 37, not 38 documents).]

August 8, 2022: FBI recovers documents pursuant to a search warrant: 

• Documents located in storage room and Trump’s office (including desk drawer and containers in office closet)
• 103 unique documents bearing classification markings

The Office contains:

• 27 documents bearing classification markings
  • 3 documents marked as Confidential
  • 17 documents marked as Secret
  • 7 documents marked as Top Secret
• 43 empty folders with classified banners
• 28 empty folders labeled “return to staff secretary/military aide”
• Several documents have colored cover sheets showing their classification status
• 3 classified documents were located “in the desks in the ‘45 Office’”

The Storage Room contains:

• 76 documents bearing classification markings
  • 28 documents marked as Confidential
  • 37 documents marked as Secret
  • 11 documents marked as Top Secret (including SCI)
• 3 empty folders with classified banners
• 14 empty folders labeled “return to staff secretary/military aide”

In at least 15 boxes in both the office and storage room, documents marked as classified are comingled with personal and other items including magazines, newspapers, press articles, and other printed media

[Justice Department application for disclosure of subpoena; Revised Detailed Inventory of Aug. 8 search, Sept. 26, 2022; Government reply to Trump motion for return of property and Special Master, Aug. 30, 2022]

The highly classified documents recovered on Aug. 8 reportedly include information on a foreign country’s nuclear weapons readiness, Iran’s missile program, and highly sensitive intelligence work aimed at China. [Washington Post] [Washington Post] 

Trump’s willful retention:

“Mr. Philbin tried to help the National Archives retrieve the material, two of the people familiar with the discussions said. But the former president repeatedly resisted entreaties from his advisers. ‘It’s not theirs; it’s mine,’ several advisers say Mr. Trump told them.” [New York Times]

“Two former White House officials, who had been designated as among Mr. Trump’s representatives with the archives, received calls and tried to facilitate the documents’ return. Mr. Trump resisted those calls, describing the boxes of documents as ‘mine,’ according to three advisers familiar with his comments.” [New York Times]

“Trump resisted handing over some of the boxes for months, some people close to the president said, and believed that many of the items were his personally and did not belong to the government.” [Washington Post]

Trump’s personally overseeing documents:

“As the fight with the Archives came to an uneasy conclusion, the FBI proceeded with interviews with others in Trump’s orbit, including valets and former White House staffers, people familiar with the interviews said. Agents were told that Trump was a pack rat who had been personally overseeing his collection of White House records since even before leaving Washington and had been reluctant to return anything. The FBI became increasingly convinced that the former president continued to hold classified documents in Florida, people familiar with the investigation said.” [Washington Post]

Trump’s possession, access, and control over documents:

 In a hearing before the federal district court in Florida, Trump attorney Christopher Kise said in his opening remarks:

“What we are talking about here, in the main, are Presidential records in the hands of the 45th President at a location that was used frequently, during his term as President, to conduct official business.” 

“The inventory, in fact, that was just provided and unsealed demonstrates that, the first inventory.  It is what you would expect, when you look at it.  It is what you would expect if you looked through a bunch of boxes that were moved in a hurry from a residence or an office.  It contains all sorts of things.  And in there are, again, Presidential records in the hands of [the] 45th President of the United States.”

[Transcript of Sept 1 hearing]

IV. Post-Presidency 2021

National Archives places Trump on notice throughout 2021:

“Throughout 2021, the United States National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) had ongoing communications with representatives of former President Trump in which it sought the transfer of what it perceived were missing records from his Administration.” [Government response to Trump motion for return of property and Special Master, Aug. 30, 2022; see also National Archives letter to Chairwoman Maloney, Feb. 18, 2022]