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The Situation: A Legal Puzzle to Ponder
Democracy & Elections
The Situation: A Legal Puzzle to Ponder
Benjamin Wittes
Friday, December 19, 2025, 11:57 AM
What if I wanted to project an unflattering image of Kash Patel on the FBI building?
Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, (https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/659930122, CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/).
The Situation on Tuesday posed a question millions of Americans have undoubtedly been contemplating—if only subconsciously: Why can’t FBI Director Kash Patel shut up?
Today, let’s take on a Patel-related question that millions of Americans are undoubtedly not contemplating, not even subconsciously: Would it violate any law if I projected an unflattering image of the man on the external walls of the Hoover Building?
As many readers know, in my non-Lawfare life, I have a thing about mischief with projectors. Most, though not all, of this mischief takes place with respect to Russian diplomatic facilities around the world—about which I have been on a long-term beautification campaign.
But recently, I have become interested in—let’s just say—more domestic targets. The older I get, the more I believe that there are relatively few problems in the world that can’t be solved, or at least ameliorated, with a projector and an appropriate target. And the thought of projecting on the Hoover Building an image of the FBI director struck me as, well, a neat idea. Maybe this image:
{snip}
The Situation: A Legal Puzzle to Ponder
Benjamin Wittes
Friday, December 19, 2025, 11:57 AM
What if I wanted to project an unflattering image of Kash Patel on the FBI building?
Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, (https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/659930122, CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/).
The Situation on Tuesday posed a question millions of Americans have undoubtedly been contemplating—if only subconsciously: Why can’t FBI Director Kash Patel shut up?
Today, let’s take on a Patel-related question that millions of Americans are undoubtedly not contemplating, not even subconsciously: Would it violate any law if I projected an unflattering image of the man on the external walls of the Hoover Building?
As many readers know, in my non-Lawfare life, I have a thing about mischief with projectors. Most, though not all, of this mischief takes place with respect to Russian diplomatic facilities around the world—about which I have been on a long-term beautification campaign.
But recently, I have become interested in—let’s just say—more domestic targets. The older I get, the more I believe that there are relatively few problems in the world that can’t be solved, or at least ameliorated, with a projector and an appropriate target. And the thought of projecting on the Hoover Building an image of the FBI director struck me as, well, a neat idea. Maybe this image:
{snip}