OUR PICKSPreparing for Election Interference | Emergency Powers for Good | Silicon Valley Going Nuclear, and more

How America’s Fourth-Largest County Is Preparing for Election Interference  (Rishi Iyengar, Foreign Policy)
Maricopa County in Arizona has been a lightning rod for election deniers since 2020. Officials there say they’re prepared this time around.

Courts Blocked Georgia’s Hand-Count Rule, But Risk of Election Misinformation Remains  (Isabel Linzer and Tim Harper, Just Security)
The Fulton County Superior Court and Georgia’s Supreme Court have prevented a Georgia’s State Election Board controversial rule change, requiring local election officials to hand count the number of ballots cast on Election Day, from applying to the November election. But the damage has already been done. The movement to institute the rule will do precisely the opposite of the Board’s stated purpose, providing foreign adversaries and election deniers with a potentially tailor-made narrative to spread disinformation and undermine trust in U.S. elections.

Local Officials Cannot Block Election Certification. But They Can Fuel Disinformation.  (JoAnna Suriani, Just Security)
Attempts by local election officials to delay or prevent the certification of the results could create problems throughout the country. A local official refusing to certify their county’s results, and thereby delaying the final election results, helps fuel the disinformation loop about the integrity of our elections, contributing to voter confusion and skepticism of whether the system is working.

A New Insiders’ Account of the Mueller Investigation  (Quinta Jurecic, Lawfare)
A review of Aaron Zebley, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein, “Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation” (Simon & Schuster, 2024)

Emergency Powers for Good (Elena Chachko and Katerina Linos, Lawfare)
A new theory of emergency powers finds room for transformative government action.

U.S. Department of State Offers $10 Million Reward for Information on Russian Cyber Operatives Targeting Critical Infrastructure  (Matt Seldon, HSToday)
The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of individuals engaged in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure, acting under the direction or control of a foreign government. This reward applies to cyber activities that violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and are particularly concerning for the security of U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, aerospace, and government.

Silicon Valley Going Nuclear: The Fight for Energy Supremacy  (Pete Mathias, HSToday)
For decades, nuclear power was sidelined by fears of proliferation and meltdown, but a “new atomic consensus” is emerging. Driven by AI’s voracious energy demands and Great Power competition, nuclear is no longer a neglected utility—it is now a cornerstone of national security.
Nuclear has a new risk calculus: Americans increasingly accept the remote risk of a nuclear incident over the near-certain loss of energy dominance—and AI leadership—to China and Russia, who are rapidly scaling their nuclear capacity.