People
Jack Goldsmith
-
A President Faces Prosecution, and a Democracy Is Tested
March 31, 2023
For the first time in American history, a former president of the United States has been indicted on criminal charges. It is worth pausing to…
-
Biden Promised to Revisit Presidential Immunity. He Hasn’t.
March 13, 2023
When Joseph R. Biden Jr. was running for the White House in 2019, he sharply criticized the Justice Department’s longstanding view that presidents who commit…
-
In an inaugural University-wide event, Faith & Veritas ’23 will bring together Harvard’s Christian alumni, faculty, and students March 30-April 2 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Faith…
-
Jack Smith, Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries, Steps Up the Pace
February 13, 2023
Did former President Donald J. Trump consume detailed information about foreign countries while in office? How extensively did he seek information about whether voting machines…
-
Things Are Looking Pretty Weird for Merrick Garland
January 24, 2023
An op-ed by Jack Goldsmith: Attorney General Merrick Garland’s symmetrical appointments of special counsels to investigate the classified documents imbroglios of President Biden and former…
-
The Lawfare Podcast: Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire
December 16, 2022
Ralph Bunche, one of the most prominent Black Americans of the 20th century, was a legendary diplomat, who from his perch at the United Nations…
-
‘In pursuit of an atmosphere in which ideas can be followed without fear that you’ll be punished’
December 6, 2022
Professors Jeannie Suk Gersen and Janet Halley lead the Academic Freedom Alliance, an organization that protects the rights of faculty to speak or publish without fear of sanction or punishment.
-
What are the limits of presidential power?
September 27, 2022
A panel of experts say that a seminal Supreme Court decision on the powers of the president may raise more questions than it answers.
-
U.S. Discloses Decades of Justice Dept. Memos on Presidential War Powers
September 19, 2022
Justice Department lawyers have secretly worked under presidents of both parties to narrowly interpret the reach of a law passed at the end of the…
-
As Midterms Near, Election Rule Raises Dilemma for Trump Inquiries
September 6, 2022
As the midterm elections near, top Justice Department officials are weighing whether to temporarily scale back work in criminal investigations involving former President Donald J.
-
Will anything break Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party?
August 29, 2022
The most powerful figure in the Republican Party is still Donald Trump. Despite his attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election, his friendliness…
-
Faculty Books in Brief: Summer 2022
July 2, 2022
From the Hughes Court to stock market short-termism to the U.S.'s "defend forward" cyber strategy
-
Watergate-era reforms 50 years later
June 8, 2022
Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith says laws and norms established after President Nixon's resignation 'had a great run,' but the Trump presidency proved that new reforms are needed.
-
Engaging in good faith discussion
April 27, 2022
Federalist Society President Jacob Richards ’22, who describes himself as a classical liberal, appreciates engaging in good faith discussion of hard issues at HLS.
-
Goldsmith: Trump has a genius for exploiting loopholes
February 18, 2022
Jack Goldsmith, who served in Office of Legal Counsel under George W. Bush, says laws regulating presidents must be reformed before Trump can be reelected.
-
In Memoriam: Philip B. Heymann 1932 – 2021
December 4, 2021
A highly principled public official and beloved colleague, Heymann had a distinguished career in academia, and serving in four presidential administrations, including in the solicitor general’s office under President John F. Kennedy, in several U.S. State Department jobs for Lyndon Johnson, as a Watergate prosecutor, as assistant attorney general during the Carter administration, and as deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton.
-
In Memoriam: Philip B. Heymann 1932 – 2021
December 2, 2021
When asked what he wanted to be remembered by, longtime Harvard Law Professor and former Watergate prosecutor Philip B. Heymann ’60 replied: “Speaking truth to power.” Heymann, a beloved colleague and distinguished public servant, died Nov. 30 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89.
-
Trump strategist Steve Bannon indicted on contempt charges in Jan. 6 investigation
November 12, 2021
Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump’s political strategist, was indicted by a grand jury Friday on two charges of criminal contempt for defying a House subpoena. ...Biden told reporters Oct. 15 he hoped the committee “goes after” people who defy subpoenas “and holds them accountable criminally.” Asked whether they should be prosecuted, Biden replied: “I do, yes.” Biden told a CNN town hall Oct. 21 that what he said wasn’t appropriate. He said the department would make its own decision about whether to prosecute. “I did not, have not, and will not pick up the phone and call the attorney general and tell him what he should or should not do in terms of who he should prosecute,” Biden said. Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor, tweeted that any prosecution of Bannon, which he considered legally justified, “will be tainted by Biden’s remark.”