OUR PICKSDrop in Immigrant Tax Filings May | Hegseth’s Pentagon Is a Lethality-Maxxing Wasps’ Nest | AI Companies Got Caught Up in US Military Efforts, and more

Did Trump Already Pardon the Alleged Jan. 5, 2021, Pipe Bomber?  (Eric Columbus, Lawfare)
Cole’s lawyers claim he’s covered by the Jan. 6 pardons. The Trump administration has made it a more interesting question than it should be.

America Used to Own the Internet. Now It’s Running Scared.  (Nikolas Guggenberger, Lawfare)
The U.S. restricted data transfers abroad. Cast as an assertion of sovereignty, the new posture signals weakness in great-power competition.

Trump’s Go-To Justification for Contentious Decisions: National Security  (Maxine Joselow and Devlin Barrett, New York Times)
The administration has invoked national security in a variety of matters, including the White House ballroom and offshore wind farms, drawing rebukes from some judges.

Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka Seeks Top Counterterrorism Job  (Noah Robertson, John Hudson and Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)
The maneuvering comes a month after Joe Kent, the National Counterterrorism Center’s previous director, resigned in protest over the Iran war.

Drop in Immigrant Tax Filings May Cost Government Billions as IRS Shares Data with ICE  (Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post)
Experts estimate that the IRS stands to lose up to $479 billion over the next decade as immigrants face deportation and disengage from the formal economy.

Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon Is a Lethality-Maxxing Wasps’ Nest  (Economist)
America’s armed forces are supremely capable and roiled by infighting.

How AI Companies Got Caught Up in US Military Efforts  (Nick Srnicek, Wired)
Two years ago, companies like Meta and OpenAI were united against military use of their tools. Now all of that has changed.