We are back with an interview-focused episode! Tune in as Professors Chesney and Vladeck interview Brigadier General John G. Baker, USMC. General Baker is Chief Defense Counsel for the military commissions at Guantanamo. And, yes, there's frivolity at the end...Bills-themed frivolity!
This week in the wild world of national security law, your co-hosts Professors Vladeck and Chesney discuss and debate: The prospects for legislative change to FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), including notes on a currently-pending bill in the House Trumplandia and the ODNI: The statutory deadline for the Acting ODNI (now Richard Grenell) to continue to perform that function is March 12. That deadline will be tolled by an actual nomination, but failing a nomination what then? Tun...
This week on NSL Podcast, co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discuss and debate: The U.S. government's formal statement to Congress on the legal rationale for its airstrike against General Soleimani Trumplandia and law enforcement: the related, but distinct, issues associated with the use of the Pardon Power and the relationship between the President and federal prosecutors Does 18 USC 1114 apply extraterritorially? A D.C. Circuit panel holds that the federal statute making it a felony to ...
And we're back, with a fresh episode at last. Tune in as co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discuss and debate the latest national security law developments. This week they cover: Donald Trump pressuring Main DOJ to override the sentencing recommendation made by line prosecutors in order to help Roger Stone Donald Trump pressuring DOD to retaliate against Lt. Col. Vindman (followed by, coincidentally, our discussion of the Military Whistleblower Protection Act) A quick overview of federal ...
After a wholly-frivolous episode last week, we are back with...well...a slightly-frivolous episode this week. Tune in as your co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney review and debate: The likely procedural, jurisdictional, and other legal issues that may arise if and when the Senate issues a subpoena to John Bolton and the White House attempts to prevent his testimony. The Justice Department's recent decision to concede the impropriety of two of the FISA Title I applications that had been subm...
Oh heavens, what were they thinking? This week on the National Security Law Podcast, your hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney bring you...well, not a single second of national security law talk. Nope, instead this episode is all-frivolity from start to finish. Movies, tv, sports, books...anything but the actual topic of the show! But, hey, maybe you could use a break from the headlines? Rest assured, we'll be back next week with our usual format.
It's episode 150, and to celebrate we have a special guest: The Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Christopher Krebs! That's right, we've got all the cybers this week, and a fun guest to walk us all through it. That, plus a smattering of sign-stealing frivolity and Rush appreciation! We'll be back next week with our usual takes on the news...
Not surprisingly, this weeks episode focuses entirely on the set of legal and policy questions raised by the airstrike that killed, among other, the Iranian general Qassim Soleimani in Iraq. But of course there is still frivolity, too, as the show finishes with discussion of ... Frozen II.
Tired of watching the impeachment? Turn away from your monitor/tv, put in your earbuds, and go for a nice walk while listening to the latest National Security Law Podcast! This week we have Professors Chesney and Vladeck discussing and debating: The DOJ OIG Report and its account of 17 significant errors associated with the FBI's presentation of information in the series of FISA Title I applications concerning Carter Page. This, of course, leads to a larger discussion of FISA reform. SCOTUS desi...
Welcome back to the National Security Law Podcast! This week we discuss: The two Articles of Impeachment The Inspector General's Report on the origins and conduct of the FBI's investigation into Russian election interference Amazon's lawsuit arguing that President Trump improperly influenced the DOD cloud contract bid selection The NDAA and the legal framework for DoD to conduct (and counter) grey zone information operations The investigative report on persistent overstatement of success in Afgh...
Welcome back to the National Security Law Podcast! Tune in as Professors Vladeck and Chesney debate and discuss the week's national security law news, including: Trumplandia: The House Intelligence Committee's report shines a spotlight on certain call records, leading some to question how such records lawfully are obtained by investigators. This leads to a discussion of the Fourth Amendment, the third-party doctrine, the Stored Communications Act, and both grand jury and congressional subpoenas....
Happy Thanksgiving to all! If you are stuck in an airport or on a long drive this week, we've got you covered for at least one hour, as Professors Chesney and Vladeck discuss and debate: The military commission cases: we provide a full "reset" bringing you up to speed on where things stand with each of the major cases (including a reminder about an important pending motion in the 9/11 case) National Cupcake Day gives way to the Ides of March, as Congress pushes the sunset for several notable FIS...
Episode 144 is here! It was no easy task to sort out which topics to discuss this week, but in the end the Trumplandia segment prevailed over almost all the others. The end result? Tune in to hear Professors Chesney and Vladeck discuss and debate: The latest developments in the Impeachment Inquiry (including today's testimony from Ambassador Sondland). President Trump's decision to issue pardons to two soldiers facing murder charges and to restore rank to a Navy SEAL previously convicted for pos...
When you are done watching the impeachment hearings and just can't take it anymore, it's time to open up a can of ... National Security Law Podcast! For your happy hour or other occasions, we've got a fresh episode. Tune in as Professors Chesney and Vladeck discuss and debate: Yesterday's SCOTUS argument in Hernandez (the cross-border shooting case, which Steve argued!) Alasaad v. Nielsen, in which a district judge rejects the government's position that the Fourth Amendment border exception appl...
What fun! We recorded this one in front of a large live audience at the Annual Review of the Field conference run by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and we did it as a joint podcast with our friends at ABA's National Security Law Today podcast: Elisa Poteat and Yvette Bourcicot! We covered: Islamic State detainees, included (but not limited to) the Beatles The approach of National Cupcake Day (a.k.a. December 15th, a.k.a. the date when several FISA surveillance and docum...
Granted, it's not Days of Future Past, but our episode 141 is still pretty good! This week, Professors Vladeck and Chesney discuss and debate: The al-Baghdadi raid (and misunderstandings about Congressional notification) A GTMO habeas decision in Abdulrazzaq Who will be the next Secretary of Homeland Security? Debating the authority of an Acting Secretary to alter the order of succession at slots #4 onward... Trumplandia & Impeachment: What to make of the decision to vote on authorizing the ...
We've got a short one this week, but also we didn't plan or prep much, so we have that going for us! Tune in as Professors Vladeck and Chesney discuss the 2nd Circuit oral argument in Trump v. Vance (regarding the President's claim of temporary immunity from criminal investigation), and a pair of important Supreme Court cert. grants (one involving the scope of the Suspension Clause, and the other giving rise to the possibility of a ruling undermining the constitutionality of the "independent" ag...
We recorded today before a live audience in Austin! Austin Hall, that is, on the campus of Harvard Law School! Special thanks to Matt Morris and the great students of the Harvard National Security & Law Association, and to all who attended! We certainly didn't lack for topics. Professors Vladeck and Chesney discussed and debated: The "Beatles" detainees: What are the hurdles to continued military detention of these two formerly-British Islamic State members who are now in U.S. custody in Ira...
In addition to quoting They Might Be Giants lyrics, this week's episode features cohosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck taking on three big issues: The Impeachment Inquiry & the White House Counsel's Letter on Non-Cooperation President Trump's decision to abandon America's Kurdish allies and thus set in motion the potential release of thousands of Islamic State fighters A set of newly-declassified decisions by the FISC (and FISC-R) involving the latest round of Section 702 certification, in...
So, you'll never guess what we're going to talk about in this week's episode. [Editor's note: Guys, you can't just say that and then put in no further details in these shownotes. Get back to work! Hello, are you there? Amateurs...]
And we're back, with a lot of news to cover! Tune in for discussion and (respectful) debate with our cohosts, Professors Vladeck and Chesney, as the review: Is it proper for the DNI to withhold from HPSCI a whisteblower complaint under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA...Ick-Wipp-Uh!), where the IG has made a determination that the statutory standard has been met but the DNI disagrees? And what remedies might HPSCI (or SSCI) have if the answer is no? About that colon...
Tune in to the latest episode of the National Security Law Podcast as your co-hosts Professors Chesney and Vladeck discuss and debate: On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks: which elements of current counterterrorism law and policy would have come as the biggest surprise back in 2001? This includes a discussion of the removal of John Bolton as National Security Adviser. The district court ruling finding that the process for adding U.S. persons to the Terrorist Screening Database violates t...
And we are back with more discussion and debate of the latest national security legal news! Tune in for cohosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney as they take up: Domestic terrorism and the questions such as (a) whether there ought to be a "designation" process for domestic groups and (b) whether the phrase "civilian population" presents vagueness issues if employed in a criminal law measure. A trial date for the 9/11 trial at GTMO! Will it really be underway as of January 11, 2021? What impact mi...
Well, that's not quite what the President said. It was something about American companies and trade with China, not you and your podcast app. And IEEPA can't be used to make anyone listen to this podcast, we suppose. But voluntary cooperation is welcome, and those who tune in this week won't be disappointed when they find co-hosts Vladeck and Chesney discussing and debating: The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a basis for a potential POTUS order barring U.S. companies from...
And we are back with more debate and discussion concerning the latest national security and law news! In this week's episode, co-hosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck explore: The legal complexities that followed from the resignation of Sue Gordon as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence and the follow-on appointment of Adm. Joe Maguire (up to that point the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center) to be the Acting DNI (a temporary appointment that by statute precludes him ...
This week's episode features an extended discussion of domestic terrorism as a legal category and as a policy category, in light of the attack in El Paso. Among other aspects, we discuss: Substantive criminal charging options at the state and federal levels Arguments for an against federal expansion into this area Federal terrorism crimes that can be applied in domestic terrorism cases The pros and cons of expanding the "designated terrorist organization" concept to domestic groups Preventive ch...
And we're back with a new episode, with co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discussing and debating the latest national security law news (and, let's face it, engaging in *lots* of digressions). This week we've got: Succession-Fest: We go deep into the weeds on a number of succession-in-office topics involving people named to be "acting" this-or-that. Of course we focus in particular on the prospect of an Acting Director of National Intelligence, but we also look ahead to developments impac...
This week on the National Security Law Podcast, with co-hosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck: War Powers: Congressional testimony from the State Department's Acting Legal Advisor confirms that the administration has placed AQIM on the list of "associated forces" within the organizational scope of the 2001 AUMF, notes that the administration has not (yet) determined that Iran is within the scope of either the 2001 or 2002 AUMFs, and much more. Prosecution vs Military Detention: A U.S. citizen wh...
For our latest episode, we offer you NSL Podcast Mad Libs in lieu of show notes! We're back after a __ [number]-week break, and there have been some ____ [noun] security law developments in the meantime! Professors ____ [full name of celebrity] and [full name of sports star] are here to ____ [verb] all of it. ___ [adjective] ____ [plural noun] on this episode include: Justice Stevens, R.I.P.: We reflect on key national security ____ [plural noun] he wrote or impacted. Border ____ [noun] Litigati...
Welcome back to the National Security Law Podcast, where co-hosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck cross-swords with courtesy and nerdistry while reviewing the latest national security legal news (along with a healthy does of frivolity at the end...and sometimes the middle...and the beginning...)! This will be the last episode until July 17th or 18th, and it covers: Doe v. Mattis is back! Well, not in a major way. But we do at least have a reissued D.C. Circuit opinion that confirms what we all k...
