In the News: William C. Banks

“One of the things that this revelation about Page reinforces is that it wasn’t politicized at all. That it was done following the FISA process,” says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. “There was plenty of evidence that the Russians were up to something concerning the election last year, so there was a lot of reason to want to surveil those who might have been involved.”

Professor Emeritus William Banks was interviewed on Bloomberg Radio's program "Bloomberg Law" about the Senate investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

William C. Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, says "the CIA needs to share what is known about its vulnerabilities with the companies that are impacted," in response to the documents released by WikiLeaks.

William Banks, professor of practice of public administration and international affars, says gaining access to the evidence to substantiate or refute Trump's wiretap claims will be incredibly difficult because under the law, the president can not access current or previous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court orders.

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks explains how a special prosecutor gets appointed. The explanation comes after lawmakers demand for a special prosecutor investigation on President Trump associates to Russian operatives.

According to Professor Emeritus William C. Banks, terrorist groups like ISIS use Trump’s "anti-Islam rhetoric to say that the U.S. is waging war on Islam," but he is not aware of specific incitements or attacks based on the executive order.

Judge Neil Gorsuch will be vetted and reviewed by the Senate, and needs the votes of at least 60 senators to be confirmed. "That requirement is not in the Constitution, but it's one that Congress itself, the Senate has chosen to impose. It's been that way for a long, long time,"  says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs.

William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says "since 9/11, no one has been killed in this country in a terrorist attack by anyone who emigrated from any of the seven countries," on President Trump's travel ban.

William Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, was quoted in The New York Times article, "Trump Orders a Wall Built, but Congress Holds the Checkbook." In theory, Mr. Trump could order the military to spend extra money to protect national security, then move around the funding within the bureaucracy to pay for a wall built by the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Banks said.

“More information cannot easily be provided (to) the public—the classification is required to preserve the secrecy of the sources and methods we used to learn about the hacking,” says William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. “It creates a dilemma that is difficult to resolve.”

The INSCT project—Law and Policy of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles—was awarded $68,248. The project will develop a policy and legal framework that supports the use of various types of unmanned aerial systems throughout the state, while ensuring public safety, protecting civil liberties and promoting industrial growth.