Ryan Goodman

New York

Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief at Just Security

Former Special Counsel @DeptofDefense. Co-editor-in-chief @just_security. Chaired Professor NYU Law. Former Chaired Professor Harvard Law. Co-director @RCLS_NYU

Articles

Welcoming Dani Schulkin, Director of Democracy Initiatives

1 week ago | justsecurity.org | Tess Bridgeman |Ryan Goodman

We are delighted to announce that Dani Schulkin has joined Just Security as Director of Democracy Initiatives. Most recently, Schulkin served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General and Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor at the White House.
The Just Security Podcast: Regulating Social Media — Is it Lawful, Feasible, and Desirable? (NYU Law Forum)

4 weeks ago | justsecurity.org | Tess Bridgeman |Ryan Goodman |Michael Posner |Daphne Keller |Maya Nir

2025 will be a pivotal year for technology regulation in the United States and around the world. The European Union has begun regulating social media platforms with its Digital Services Act. In the United States, regulatory proposals at the federal level will likely include renewed efforts to repeal or reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Signal Gate: The Criminal Law Precedents That Are Most Relevant

4 weeks ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

On Monday morning, Washington woke up to extraordinary revelations in the pages of The Atlantic. Screenshots of text messages between cabinet-level officials of the United States discussing the authorization and operational details of imminent military strikes on Yemen, which took place earlier this month. Not everything in the Signal thread was contained in the screenshots that The Atlantic released to the public.
Timeline of US Flight to El Salvador and Judge's Order to Turn Around Planes

1 month ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

On Saturday evening, D.C. district court Chief Judge James Boasberg, ruling from the bench, ordered the U.S. government to turn around any planes headed to El Salvador or elsewhere with Venezuelan immigrants onboard under the administration’s purported invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
Trump Administration Appears to Launch 'Alien Enemies Act' Deportation Program

1 month ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

On Friday, the Trump administration appeared to start the process of carrying out the deportation of Venezuelan nationals pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority that legal experts warn is clearly not applicable to those individuals. The Act requires invocation of its authorities to be made public, but as of the time of publication there is no indication that a presidential proclamation has been publicly released.
The Just Security Podcast: Politicization and Weaponization of the Justice Department in the Second Trump Administration

1 month ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman |Tom Joscelyn |Mary B. McCord |Paras Shah |Clara Apt

In just his first six weeks in office, President Donald Trump has issued more than 80 executive orders and other actions, many of them targeting the federal workforce and the structure of the federal government. Just Security’s Co-Editor-in-Chief, Ryan Goodman, recently published a timeline of actions that highlight the alarming level of politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice under the second Trump administration.
Timeline: Politicization and Weaponization of Justice Department in Second Trump Administration

1 month ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman |Audrey Balliette

1/20Executive Order - “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government”Document: Executive Order 14147President TrumpPresident Trump’s executive order dictates actions that the Attorney General must take to remedy what it describes as the “unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power” of the Biden administration.
Kash Patel and the Purging of the FBI

2 months ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

In the days since Kash Patel’s nomination hearing for F.B.I. director, a crisis of historic proportions has engulfed the Justice Department and the Bureau. The idea of Patel leading the F.B.I. through this period should be too much to bear for senators who care deeply about steadying the bureau and keeping its enormous powers in line with the rule of law.
Welcoming Kathleen Claussen, Tom Dannenbaum, and Eliav Lieblich

2 months ago | justsecurity.org | Tess Bridgeman |Megan Corrarino |Ryan Goodman

We are thrilled to welcome distinguished scholars Kathleen Claussen, Tom Dannenbaum, and Eliav Lieblich as new members of our outstanding Editorial Board. Their expertise and analysis will already be familiar to many Just Security readers, and we are delighted that they are joining us in this new capacity.
No Claim to Fame: Kash Patel and False or Misleading Statements About the 2016 Russia Investigation

2 months ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

Below is a Table that provides important statements made by Kash Patel about the Justice Department’s investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election – and compares those statements with evidence in the public record. By way of background, Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, has claimed that he has valuable experience in uncovering and calling out wrongdoing by the FBI and Justice Department in the Russia investigation.