International Refugee Assistance Project et al v. Trump et al

Filing 123

MOTION for Leave to File Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs by Former National Security Officials (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Proposed Brief Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs)(Connolly, John)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
SOUTHERN DIVISION
__________________________________________
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INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE
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ASSISTANCE PROJECT, et al.,
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Civil Action No.:
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8:17-CV-00361-TDC
Plaintiffs,
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v.
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Date: March 13, 2017
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DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
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United States, et al.,
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Respondents.
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MOTION OF FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS FOR LEAVE TO FILE
AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS
Proposed amici, a group of former national security officials identified below,
respectfully submit this motion for leave to file the attached amicus brief in support of plaintiffs
International Refugee Assistance Project, et al. (the “Plaintiffs”).
1.

This Court has recognized that a brief of amici curiae is appropriate at the trial

level where “[amici] provide helpful analysis of the law, they have a special interest in the
subject matter of the suit, or existing counsel is in need of assistance.” Bryant v. Better Business
Bureau of Greater Maryland, 923 F. Supp. 720, 728 (D. Md. 1996) (internal citations omitted).
2.

The proposed amicus brief would provide helpful analysis in this case because the

proposed amici possess significant foreign-policy and national-security experience. Amici
curiae are former national security, foreign policy and intelligence officials who have worked on
pressing national security matters in the U.S. government. A number of amici have worked at
senior levels in administrations of both political parties. Amici have collectively devoted

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decades to combatting the various terrorist threats that the United States faces in an increasingly
dangerous and dynamic world. Amici have all held the highest security clearances. A
significant number were current on active intelligence regarding credible terrorist threat streams
directed against the United States as recently as one week before the issuance of the original
January 27, 2017 Executive Order on “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into
the United States” (“January 27 Order”), and weeks before the new March 6, 2017 Executive
Order bearing the same title (“March 6 Order”).
3.

Amici have a special interest in the subject matter of the suit based on their

experience as former national security, foreign policy and intelligence officials who have worked
on pressing national security matters in the United States Government:
(a) Madeleine K. Albright served as Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. A
refugee and naturalized American citizen, she served as U.S. Permanent Representative
to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997. She has also been a member of the Central
Intelligence Agency External Advisory Board since 2009 and of the Defense Policy
Board since 2011, in which capacities she has received assessments of threats facing the
United States.
(b) Jeremy Bash served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Defense from
2011 to 2013, and as Chief of Staff at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011.
(c) Rand Beers served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President of
the United States from 2014 to 2015.
(d) Daniel Benjamin served as Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism at the
U.S. State Department from 2009 to 2012.

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(e) Antony Blinken served as Deputy Secretary of State from 2015 to January 20,
2017. He also served as Deputy National Security Advisor to the President of the United
States from 2013 to 2015.
(f) R. Nicholas Burns served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from
2005 to 2008. He previously served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and as U.S.
Ambassador to Greece.
(g) William J. Burns served as Deputy Secretary of State from 2011 to 2014. He
previously served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011, as
U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, as Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs from 2001 to 2005, and as U.S. Ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to
2001.
(h) James Clapper served as U.S. Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to
January 20, 2017.
(i) David S. Cohen served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence from 2011 to 2015 and as Deputy Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency from 2015 to January 20, 2017.
(j) Eliot A. Cohen served as Counselor of the U.S. Department of State from 2007
to 2009.
(k) Ryan Crocker served as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012,
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan from 2004 to
2007, U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 1998 to 2001, U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait from
1994 to 1997, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon from 1990 to 1993.

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(k) Daniel Feldman served as U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan from 2014 to 2015, Deputy U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan from 2009 to 2014, and previously Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian
Affairs at the National Security Council.
(l) Jonathan Finer served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State from 2015
until January 20, 2017, and Director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State
Department from 2016 until January 20, 2017.
(m) Robert S. Ford served as U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014, as
Deputy Ambassador to Iraq from 2009 to 2010, and as U.S. Ambassador to Algeria from
2006 to 2008.
(n) Michèle Flournoy served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009
to 2013.
(o) Suzy George served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
and Executive Secretary to the National Security Council from 2014 to 2017.
(p) Phil Gordon served as Special Assistant to the President and White House
Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf from 2013 to 2015, and
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2009 to 2013.
(q) Avril D. Haines served as Deputy National Security Advisor to the President
of the United States from 2015 to January 20, 2017. From 2013 to 2015, she served as
Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(r) General (ret.) Michael V. Hayden, USAF, served as Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009. From 1995 to 2005, he served as Director of the
National Security Agency.

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(s) Christopher R. Hill served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs from 2005 to 2009. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia,
Poland, the Republic of Korea, and Iraq.
(t) John F. Kerry served as Secretary of State from 2013 to January 20, 2017.
(u) Prem Kumar served as Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa
on the National Security Council staff of the White House from 2013 to 2015.
(v) Marcel Lettre served as Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence from
2015 to 2017.
(w) John E. McLaughlin served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency from 2000 to 2004 and as Acting Director in 2004. His duties included briefing
President-elect Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush.
(x) Lisa O. Monaco served as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
and Counterterrorism and Deputy National Security Advisor from 2013 to January 20,
2017.
(y) Janet A. Napolitano served as Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to
2013.
(z) James C. O’Brien served as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs
from 2015 to January 20, 2017. He served in the State Department from 1989 to 2001,
including as Principal Deputy Director of Policy Planning and as Special Presidential
Envoy for the Balkans.
(aa) Matthew G. Olsen served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
from 2011 to 2014.

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(bb) Leon E. Panetta served as Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. From
2009 to 2011, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(cc) Samantha J. Power served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United
Nations from 2013 to January 20, 2017. From 2009 to 2013, she served as Senior
Director for Multilateral and Human Rights on the National Security Council.
(dd) Jeffrey Prescott served as Special Assistant to the President and
Senior Director for Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Gulf States from 2015 to 2017.
(ee) Susan E. Rice served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
from 2009 to 2013 and as National Security Advisor from 2013 to January 20, 2017.
(ff) Anne C. Richard served as Assistant Secretary of State for Population,
Refugees and Migration from 2012 to January 20, 2017.
(gg) Eric P. Schwartz served as Assistant Secretary of State for Population,
Refugees and Migration from 2009 to 2011. From 1993 to 2001, he was responsible for
refugee and humanitarian issues on the National Security Council, ultimately serving as
Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for
Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs.
(hh) Wendy R. Sherman served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
from 2011 to 2015.
(ii) Vikram Singh served as Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan from 2010 to 2011 and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast
Asia from 2012 to 2014.
(jj) James B. Steinberg served as Deputy National Security Adviser from 1996 to
2000 and as Deputy Secretary of State from 2009 to 2011.

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(kk) Jake Sullivan served as National Security Adviser to the Vice President from
2013 to 2014. From 2011 to 2013, he served as Director of the Policy Planning Staff at
the U.S. State Department.
(ll) William Wechsler served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special
Operations and Combating Terrorism at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2012 to
2015.
(mm) Samuel M. Witten served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2007 to 2010. From 2001 to 2007, he
served as Deputy Legal Adviser at the State Department.
4.

Amici all agree that the United States faces real threats from terrorist networks

and must take all prudent and effective steps to combat them, including the appropriate vetting of
travelers to the United States. Amici are nevertheless not aware of any specific threat that would
justify the broad bans on entry into the United States established by the Orders, either in its
original form or as revised.
For this reason, most of the proposed amici have already sought and been granted leave
to file an amicus brief in a similar case challenging the January 27 Order. See Darweesh, et al. v.
Trump, et al., No. 17-480 (E.D.N.Y. February 16, 2017).
5.

Counsel for the Plaintiffs have consented to the relief requested by this motion.

Counsel for the Defendants had not responded to a request for consent to file by the time of the
filing of this motion.
6.

Proposed amici therefore respectfully request leave to file an amicus brief in

support of Plaintiffs.

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Dated March 13, 2017

Respectfully Submitted,

Harold Hongju Koh
Hope Metcalf
RULE OF LAW CLINIC
Yale Law School
127 Wall Street, P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
203-432-4932

/s/
_
William J. Murphy (#00497)
John J. Connolly (#09537)
ZUCKERMAN SPAEDER LLP
100 E. Pratt St., Suite 2440
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410 332 0444
410 659 0436 (fax)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Jonathan Freiman
Tahlia Townsend
WIGGIN AND DANA LLP
265 Church Street, P.O. Box 1832
New Haven, CT 06508-1832
203-498-4584

Counsel for Amici Curiae

Of counsel for Amicus Curiae

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, John J. Connolly, hereby certify that on March 13, 2017, the foregoing document was
filed and served through the CM/ECF system.
/s/
_
William J. Murphy (#00497)
John J. Connolly (#09537)
ZUCKERMAN SPAEDER LLP
100 E. Pratt St., Suite 2440
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410 332 0444
410 659 0436 (fax)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Counsel for Amici Curiae