Ryan Goodman
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rgoodlaw.bsky.social
Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw.bsky.social

https://www.youtube.com/@RGoodLaw

Co-editor-in-chief @justsecurity.org. Chaired Prof at NYU Law. Former Chaired Prof Harvard. Former Special Counsel Defense Dept.

https://www.justsecurity.org/author/goodmanryan

Ryan Goodman is an American legal scholar who is the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and is the founding co-editor-in-chief of its website Just Security, which focuses on U.S. national security law and policy. Goodman joined the NYU faculty in 2009. .. more

Political science 68%
Sociology 13%
Pinned
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2/ "The department said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, as well as the FBI, found more than A MILLION more documents that could be relevant to the Epstein case."
DOJ says it may need a 'few more weeks' to finish release of Epstein files despite Dec. 19 deadline
The Justice Department said Wednesday that finishing the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein files could take a “few more weeks,” further delaying compliance with a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress.
apnews.com

Justice delayed is ...

"The Justice Department said Wednesday that finishing the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein files could take a 'few more weeks,' further delaying compliance with a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress."

apnews.com/article/trum...
DOJ says it may need a 'few more weeks' to finish release of Epstein files despite Dec. 19 deadline
The Justice Department said Wednesday that finishing the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein files could take a “few more weeks,” further delaying compliance with a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress.
apnews.com

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce

THIS is among the most important list of documents the public needs to see.

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Kavanaugh goes out of his way to pen a footnote not having to deal with the case at hand.

He appears to be trying to narrow the forces he unleashed with his prior opinion allowing for race- and ethnicity-based #KavanaughStops

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

I just penned this piece with Tom Joscelyn

Fact Checking Bari Weiss: The Stated Reasons for Spiking 60 Minutes “Inside CECOT”

"If 60 Minutes had 'explained this' as Weiss described they should, the segment would have included false or highly misleading information."
Fact Checking Bari Weiss: The Stated Reasons for Spiking 60 Minutes "Inside CECOT"
Analysis of Bari Weiss's stated justifications to 60 Minutes staff for not airing segment on CECOT prison.
www.justsecurity.org

2/ That is from a group of "documents that appeared to be from the Epstein files were briefly posted on the Justice Department’s website Monday before disappearing without explanation."

www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
New trove of apparent Epstein files posted on DOJ site disappear
The Justice Department didn’t respond to requests for comment on the new documents or the decision to remove them.
www.politico.com

After Epstein's 2019 death "prosecutors produced a seven-page memo on co-conspirators they might consider charging and followed that with an 86-page update in December ... a 13-page memo of corporate prosecutions they might pursue and a 26-page memo regarding another target prosecutors considered."
New trove of apparent Epstein files posted on DOJ site disappear
The Justice Department didn’t respond to requests for comment on the new documents or the decision to remove them.
www.politico.com

3/

On left, Bari Weiss states that she spiked the 60 Minutes piece because:

"The admin has argued in court that detainees are due 'judicial review.'"

On right, Pam Bondi Memorandum states:

"An alien determined to be an Alien Enemy and ordered removed ... is not entitled to ... judicial review."

On left:

Bari Weiss: 60 Minutes segment failed to show Government view that CECOT detainees are due judicial review

On right:

Judge Boasberg Dec 22: "The Government itself has not even contested that the detainees who now make up the CECOT class received inadequate process prior to their removal"

3/ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Meet the Press:

"and other statutes, you know, privileges and things like that"

www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-pre...

2/ Here's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's letter to Congress discussing the process of redactions and withholding of information (potentially two different things) with Epstein files:

Full text: www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

2/ To make the one on the right more legible.⬇️

Also in full here (too long for alt-text window):

www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/6...

On left:

Barry Weiss on Monday: "We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera."

On right:

Alfonsi on Sun: "If the standard for airing a story becomes 'the government must agree to be interviewed' ... we go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state."
Operation Hawkeye Strike: Attacking ISIS in Syria and International Law

By Michael Schmitt and Ryan Goodman
@mikeschmitt.bsky.social @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
Operation Hawkeye Strike: Attacking ISIS in Syria and International Law
Two experts discuss international law on U.S. military strikes against ISIS in the context of the new Syrian government.
www.justsecurity.org
WELKER: Why was Ghislaine Maxwell moved just days after you interviewed her?

BLANCHE: That's a Bureau of Prisons security issue that I will not talk about

WELKER: Did you have anything to do with it?

BLANCHE: I am responsible for the Bureau of Prisons, so every decision they make lands on my desk

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Reup of this public resource we created

Timeline of Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell Law Enforcement Failures (1996-2025)

with links to all the publicly available documents
Timeline of Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell Law Enforcement Failures (1996-2025)
A comprehensive timeline of the failure of federal law enforcement to address Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by W Grant

A key to understand how the Bondi DOJ may be trying to hide information on other men implicated in Epstein's crimes:

Note how Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's letter to Congress says DOJ is redacting information not only permitted by the Epstein Act but also ... the Privacy Act.⬇️

Epstein Files Transparency Act:

"The Attorney General shall ... make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format."

NYT:

The DOJ "website also contains a search function, though it is unclear if it’s working properly. A query for 'Epstein' returned no results."

A New Public Resource

For faculty teaching these courses or for students hungry for additional information

"Syllabus Supplements"

▶️ International Humanitarian Law/LOAC
▶️ Use of Force
▶️ Immigration Law & Policy
Syllabus Supplements
Supplemental readings for courses in immigration law, international humanitarian law, the use of force, and more.
www.justsecurity.org

2/ "Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General SHALL, subject to subsection (b), make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format ALL unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of" DOJ, FBI.
www.congress.gov
What!

Smells like more of a coverup

This is a violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Deputy Attorney General Blanche in video:

"I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks."

Here's the LAW:

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Want a top expert analysis on the law of naval warfare, the UN Charter, and blockades?

We've got you completely covered @justsecurity.org.

With many thanks to @mikeschmitt.bsky.social and Rob McLaughlin, from whom I've learned a lot.

Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences
Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences
Expert analysis of the announced U.S. military blockade of Venezuela and international law.
www.justsecurity.org

5/ I am interviewed in the Post's report:

4/ The Sept 2 quadruple-tap boat strike: 10 out of 11 were not even assessed to be members of the drug cartel!

"Adm. Frank M. Bradley, told lawmakers that the military knew one of the 11 was a member of a DTO and the other 10 were affiliates, according to two U.S. officials."

3/ This is SIGNATURE STRIKES and these are civilians:

"The assessment of 'affiliation' is based on a number of factors, including the presence of drugs on board the vessel and its route, as well as intercepts of communications, the current and former officials said."

2/ "The execute order contains targeting instructions that do not require positive identification of any individual but rather 'reasonable certainty' that adult males are members of, or affiliated with, a 'designated terrorist organization.'”

NEW revelations on EXORD (execute order) for boat strikes.

DoD allows killing members of 24 'designated terrorist organizations' AND affiliates:

“When you define DTO and affiliate so loosely and you’re attacking boats, [the guidelines are] basically meaningless,” former official said.

1/
Stephen Miller’s hard-line Mexico strategy morphed into deadly boat strikes
President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, had a plan to target Mexican drug cartels. That strategy morphed into lethal boat strikes.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Ryan Goodman

In advance of Trump's speech tonight, a few things to make clear (from Q&A with @mikeschmitt.bsky.social and @rgoodlaw.bsky.social):

1) US military strikes in or against #Venezuela would be unlawful. There is no self-defense justification to use force to dislodge #Maduro, or otherwise.

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