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In this mailing:
* Alan M. Dershowitz: Is This The End of Executive Privilege? Or Only for Trump?
* Judith Bergman: Iran and Russia: The New Alliance


** Is This The End of Executive Privilege? Or Only for Trump? ([link removed])
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by Alan M. Dershowitz • September 14, 2022 at 5:00 am
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forward/email/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gatestoneinstitute.org%2F18905%2Fexecutive-privilege-trump&pubid=ra-52f7af5809191749&ct=1&title=Is+This+The+End+of+Executive+Privilege%3F+Or+Only+for+Trump%3F [link removed]
* [L]et's see how this would have played out if the shoe were on the other foot.
* What if Obama had been called by a congressional committee to turn over all internal communications — written and oral — regarding his decision, and he claimed executive privilege? And what if then President Trump were to have waived Obama's privilege?
* One thing we know to be certain: many of the academic "experts" and media "pundits" who now support the argument that an incumbent president can waive the executive privilege of his predecessor would be making exactly the opposite argument. They would be saying — as I am saying now— that presidents would be reluctant to have confidential communications with their aides if they knew these communications could be made public by their successor in order to gain partisan electoral advantage. It would essentially mark the end of executive privilege, which is rooted in Article II of the Constitution.
* Accurate predictions today require us to know which persons or parties will be helped or hurt by particular outcomes. Hypocrisy reigns. And those who engage in it are not even embarrassed when their double standards are exposed. The current "principle" is that the ends justify the means, especially if the end is the end of Trump.
* "Because we can" has become the current mantra of both parties. Neutral principles, which apply equally without regard to partisan advantage, is for wimps, not party leaders or other government officials. "They do it too" has become the excuse de jure. Both parties do it, but that is not a valid excuse even in hardball politics. Two constitutional violations do not cancel each other. They only make things worse.
* Executive privilege is important to both parties -- and to the constitutional rule of law. Today's partisan victory for Democrats, if their waiver argument is accepted, will soon become their loss should Republicans take control.
* So beware of what you wish for. Today's dream may well become tomorrow's nightmare.

What if Obama had been called by a congressional committee to turn over all internal communications — written and oral — regarding his decision, and he claimed executive privilege? And what if then President Trump were to have waived Obama's privilege? President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama talk on the East front steps of the US Capitol after inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

In its appeal from Judge Aileen Cannon's order appointing a special master, the Biden administration is taking the position that the incumbent president can waive claims of executive privilege by his predecessor even if his predecessor is likely to run against him in the next election. So, let's see how this would have played out if the shoe were on the other foot.

Imagine if President Donald Trump had tried to waive his predecessor's executive privilege, relating to President Barack Obama's decision to allow the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel for its continuing "occupation" of the Western Wall and the roads to Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital. Many in the Obama administration opposed this one-sided resolution as anti-Israel and wanted the United States to veto it, as it had vetoed previous anti-Israel resolutions. But Obama instructed his UN representative, Samantha Powers, not to veto it.

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** Iran and Russia: The New Alliance ([link removed])
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by Judith Bergman • September 14, 2022 at 4:00 am
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itle=Iran+and+Russia%3A+The+New+Alliance [link removed]
* Significantly, Russia and Iran's cooperation extends to the military and space fields, with Russia recently helping Iran to launch a new satellite into space.
* Iran's Khayyam satellite "will greatly enhance Tehran's ability to spy on military targets across the Middle East... [and give] Tehran "unprecedented capabilities, including near-continuous monitoring of sensitive facilities in Israel and the Persian Gulf." — The Washington Post, August 4, 2022.
* "Iran could share the imagery with pro-Iranian militia groups across the region, from the Houthi rebels battling Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen to Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria." — Unnamed Middle Eastern official, The Washington Post, June 10, 2021.
* "As Iran perfects its missile arsenal... alongside its growing UAV capability throughout the Middle East –being able to sync those capabilities with satellite capabilities and surveillance will only increase the lethality of the Iranian threat." — Richard Goldberg, former Iran analyst in the Trump administration's National Security Council, The Washington Post, August 4, 2022.
* Iran has also become a major developer and producer of drones.... Most recently, Iran claimed that it had developed a long-range suicide drone "designed to hit Israel's Tel Aviv, Haifa."
* Despite this acknowledged "profound threat" emanating from the mutually beneficial alliance between Russia and Iran, the Biden administration nevertheless has been making dangerous concessions to revive the nuclear deal, which would only deepen the threat and benefit not only Iran, but also Russia.
* Let us hope that the new "Iran nuclear deal," reportedly "off the table for the time being" is off the table for good.

Russia and Iran's cooperation extends to the military and space fields, with Russia recently helping Iran to launch a new satellite into space. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi hold a meeting in Tehran on July 19, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran and Russia have been strengthening their alliance recently, growing it gradually to such an extent that the Wall Street Journal wrote on August 27 that the two countries were "forging tighter ties than ever," as both countries face continued international isolation.

In recent months, Russia and Iran have signed a multitude of agreements, especially in trade, oil and gas, and military cooperation.

In June, an agreement on the establishment of mutual trade centers in St. Petersburg and Tehran was signed, to generate further trade between the two countries in the sectors of energy, transportation, electronics, agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals and construction, by helping Iranian and Russian businessmen establish contacts and conduct financial transactions.

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