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Rational Security

The “Tyler’s Grandma’s Matzah Ball Soup” Edition

Rational Security

The Lawfare Institute

Foreignpolicy, Nationalsecurity, News, Government, Politics, Middleeast

4.82K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Alan and Quinta were joined by Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien and Lawfare Legal Fellow and Courts Correspondent Anna Bower to talk through the week's big national security news, including:

  • “No v. Wade.” The long saga of the personal relationship between Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney prosecuting Donald Trump for election interference, and Nathan Wade, the prosecutor Willis put in charge of the case, hit an inflection point when Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the criminal case, ruled that, though there was no actual conflict of interest, “the appearance of impropriety remains,” and ordered Willis to either recuse herself from the case or to remove Wade from his role as prosecutor. Wade promptly resigned, clearing the way for the case to continue. Is this the right resolution to the controversy, and what does it say about the future of the Fulton County case, especially if Trump appeals and tries to force Willis’s disqualification?
  • “Pleading the Fifth…Circuit.” In a sign that even the conservative Justices of the Supreme Court may be losing patience with the Fifth Circuit, Missouri received a chilly reception in oral argument on Monday when it tried to defend a circuit opinion preventing the government from virtually any communication with social media companies about removing misinformation and harmful content. How is the Supreme Court likely to rule and what should the rule be when it comes to concerns around government “jawboning.”
  • “Psy-Oops.” Reuters has reported that, during the Trump administration, the CIA engaged in an influence operation on Chinese social media to spread negative information about Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders. Was it effective, was it a good idea, and what should U.S. intelligence priorities be with regard to China?

For object lessons, Quinta shared a wild story about a pro-Trump lawyer arrested on a bench warrant while in court. Alan recommended a new Guy Ritchie show. And Tyler shared Quinta's brilliant visual aid to understanding Trump's litigation delay tactics.



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Transcript

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0:00.0

Anna, have you been enjoying your time in Fulton County divorce court? Do you live there now? Do you have a sleeping bag tucked into a corner of the courthouse?

0:11.0

I mean, I honestly think that the Cobb County Superior Court clerks would not be surprised

0:16.6

if I moved in, but we're finally done and I'm here to talk about it.

0:22.3

I'm so grateful you've been following this because I've been trying to avoid it as much as humanly possible to be completely honest.

0:30.0

Yeah, it hasn't been fun. I've got to admit.

0:32.8

Why hasn't it been fun? I mean, it's so juicy.

0:35.0

Uh, well, you know, Alan, when you sign up to report on the alleged, uh, you know, attempts of a former president to overturn

0:46.9

Democratic election.

0:48.3

And then you end up in a situation that feels more like the Real Housewives of Atlanta,

0:56.1

then it's a little bit odd.

0:59.7

This is still sounding fun to me. Are you, Tyler, are you volunteering?

1:05.0

And you can go down to Atlanta anytime you want and relieve Anna.

1:08.0

Well, it would be a great homecoming.

1:10.0

I could stay with my grandma, have multiple soup at night.

1:13.0

Yeah, sign me up.

1:15.0

No, there's like a definitely an element of it that's very, you know,

1:18.8

are you not entertained?

1:20.6

And how about this? You can go to my grandma's house and she can make you

1:26.3

motswall soup and that will make everything better? That'd be fantastic. Is

1:30.6

your grandma what's her motsu ball soup like when it compares to you know the mottow ball soups of other grandmothers?

1:38.0

Well, obviously it's the best in the world.

1:40.0

Don't ask don't ask a man to criticize his grandmother's lots of balls too.

...

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