We are back with the latest in national security legal developments, with Professors Chesney and Vladeck agreeing where they can and arguing respectfully (and, let's face it, nerdishly) where they can't. On tap this week: Military Detention and the Constitution: We dive deep into the questions raised by the D.C. Circuits decision in Qassim, which raises the possibility that the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause might apply in the context of habeas challenges brought by military detainees held a...
Jun 26, 2019•1 hr 20 min
We are back with the latest national security law news, with your co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney explaining, debating, and--let's face it--geeking out. This week we've got: War Powers: The latest events in the simmering situation with Iran, and what they portend in terms of potential claims of Article II authority to use at least some amount of military force without further Congressional approval. Military Commissions: The mil coms continue to generate pre-trial disputes, this time wi...
Jun 18, 2019•55 min
And we are back, after a one-week hiatus, with loads of national security law debate and discussion, not to mention some Grade B frivolity! On tap for Professors Vladeck and Chesney: Detention of Enemy Combatants: Assessing the significance of the SCOTUS cert. denial in al-Alwi, and Justice Breyer's statement about the possible impact of evolving circumstances over time NDAA FY'20 Draft Provisions: The Senate and House NDAA bills are packed with interesting items, including the possibility of an...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 7 min
In a final episode before taking a one-week travel break, co-hosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck discuss and debate an array of recent national security law developments including: Assange & the Espionage Act: DOJ has unsealed a superseding indictment against Julian Assange, including a raft of Espionage Act charges with serious (and long-anticipated) implications for journalists. The indictment does not mention the connection between UT's Volleyball Gymnasium and a key architect of the Es...
May 28, 2019•1 hr 9 min
In this week's episode, Professors Vladeck and Chesney discuss and debate: The district court ruling in Trump v. Committee on Oversight, in which the court rejects an attempt to quash a subpoena directed at an accounting firm that handled work for various Trump organizations. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion asserting blanket testimonial immunity for former White House Counsel Don McGahan. The prospect that President Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act in order to have authority eit...
May 21, 2019•1 hr 24 min
In this week's episode, Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney debate and discuss the latest national security legal news, including: Iran - The prospect of some form of armed conflict with Iran, and the various legal issues this raises. Among other things, we address the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs, the War Powers Resolution, Article I and Article II War Powers, and UN Charter Article 51. The discussion highlights the central role (legally, politically, and diplomatically) that might be played by a precipitat...
May 15, 2019•1 hr 13 min
And we're back! Tune in as Professors Chesney and Vladeck discuss and debate the latest national security legal news, including: The legal framework for Congressional subpoenas (and the problems that arise when the Executive Branch is not inclined to support prosecutions to enforce criminal contempt) The policy and legal issues raised by an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas facility associated with cyber operations, which occurred in the midst of a massive exchange of rockets, missile, mortars, and m...
May 07, 2019•1 hr 1 min
After a one-week hiatus, the NSL Podcast is back! Tune in for debate and discussion as Professors Vladeck and Chesney talk about: The Mueller Report and its aftermath Impeachment vs Censure The Trump Subpoena litigation The summary judgment decision in Jewel v. NSA (concerning a would-be class action challenging warrantless surveillance) An update on the question of whether Section 215 will be renewed in whole or in part The latest ODNI statistics on the use of surveillance authorities (with an ...
Apr 30, 2019•1 hr 21 min
This week we debate three timely topics: Al Nashiri Part 7,146: the D.C. Circuit has issued a unanimous ruling slamming former Judge Spath for failing to disclose a manifest conflict of interest, slamming pretty much everyone else involved in the process for failing to see that this is a problem, and vacating all of Judge Spath's hundreds of orders since he put in his application to become an Immigration Judge. Hernandez Part II: The Solicitor General has recommended a cert. grant in Hernandez, ...
Apr 17, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Live episode! We recorded this morning before a live audience at the University of Texas School of Law reunion weekend. It was a packed house of terrific alumni, and happily the week's news conspired (pardon the pun!) to give us plenty to discuss. Tune in for a breakdown of: Julian Assange: An exploration of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act conspiracy charge, what this means in relation to long-standing concerns about a chilling effect on the media, how the charge unexpectedly avoids a statute o...
Apr 13, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Join us as Professors Vladeck and Chesney discuss and debate the latest national security law news! This week we've got: The Adham Hassoun case: Can the government hold a terrorism-related individual in long-term immigration custody after he completes a prison sentence and while it remains unclear to which country (if any) he can be sent? The DEA's Use of Subpoena Authority to Get a Broad Set of Customer Identities from Companies Selling Cash-Counting Machines: Is this, in some sense, a bigger d...
Apr 02, 2019•1 hr 13 min
We are back after a spring break hiatus, and we do not lack for things to discuss and debate in the wide world of national security law. Tune in for: What we can make of the Mueller Report and the Barr Letter at this point Whether the president is subject to civil suit in state court while still in office Whether the US government loses its sovereign immunity from suit without consent where the claim involves a violation of a "jus cogens" rule of customary international law, as Judge Brinkema ha...
Mar 25, 2019•1 hr 8 min
This week's show features debate and discussion between co-hosts Professors Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney regarding: Paul Manafort: comparing his first and second federal sentences, and the timing of the new New York State charges Yemen: Congress considering a bill to compel an end to US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, and the President promising a veto The Border Emergency: Congress is poised to pass a bill terminating the asserted national emergency at the border, but that too ...
Mar 13, 2019•1 hr 26 min
So much to debate, so little time! Tune in as Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney plow through a host of recent (and not-so-recent) events in the world of national security law: Fazaga v. FBI - an important 9th Circuit decision on the interaction between the State Secrets Privilege and FISA, not to mention the question of how the reasonable expectation of privacy test might imply in the context of conversations in a mosque. The demise of the USA Freedom Act phone records program? News that the progr...
Mar 06, 2019•1 hr 14 min
The Oscars may not have a host, but we do! Tune in to our latest episode as co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney debate a wide range of national security developments from the past week, including: May "ISIS bride" Hoda Muthana return to the United States? Secretary Pompeo has announced that she may not, on the ground that she is not a citizen. We review and debate a slew of issues this raises, including the legal frameworks for birthright citizenship, making determinations about citizenship...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 19 min
Ready to dive deep, way deep, into the president's national emergency declaration and the resulting lawsuits? We've got you covered. Tune in as Professors Vladeck and Chesney tease out and debate the nuances. Along the way, enjoy updates on three interesting cert. denials today at SCOTUS as well as the suddenly-looming question of whether the 2001 AUMF's long-quiet "harboring" provision might be used to provide the domestic legal basis for military action against...Iran?
Feb 19, 2019•1 hr 13 min
Your favorite weekly show combining serious debate about the latest national security legal developments with a healthy dose of frivolity is back! [ed. note: this is the only show like that, so you should delete the awkward bit where you claim this is their "favorite] This week we open at the Supreme Court: What are the stakes in the Larabee litigation concerning the recall of retired military personnel in order to subject them to court-martial jurisdiction? Is there anything to the claim in Ham...
Feb 12, 2019•1 hr 9 min
This week on the National Security Law Podcast, we've got: A heavy pace of airstrikes against al Shabaab targets in Somalia Ruminations on declining media attention (and the prospect of a sharper dropoff soon) to things relating to GTMO A 15-year sentence in an Islamic State material support case A magistrate recommends vacating the conviction of Hamid Hayat for ineffective assistance of counsel, some thirteen years after his original conviction under the 1994 material support statute (28 USC 23...
Feb 06, 2019•55 min
Unlike Rent Live, all of our personnel participated in this week's show! We've got: The Venezuela Crisis: International Law complications with dueling recognitions More Venezuela: "5,000 Troops to Colombia" and Section 1021 of the Ronald W. Reagan NDAA FY'05 How About Some More Venezuela? The national emergency declaration that has been in place since 2015, and sanctions under it The Prospect of Peace with the Afghan Taliban: Implications for GTMO detention litigation (and looming questions of d...
Jan 30, 2019•1 hr 20 min
Welcome back to the National Security Law Podcast! Where else can you get both a preview of a looming surveillance law debate *and* a fine-grained debate about how best for the NFL to address blown calls? Well, maybe there's no market for that...but here we are anyway! This week, we open with a review of several interesting developments at the Supreme Court, followed by updates on the issues that two separate military commission defendants (Nashiri and KSM) have placed before the D.C. Circuit Co...
Jan 22, 2019•1 hr 11 min
This week on the National Security Law Podcast, co-hosts Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck are joined by Michel Paradis (lead counsel for the defense in the al-Nashiri military commission case) and Captain Brian Mizer (learned counsel for the defense in that case). Tune in for an extensive discussion of the upcoming D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals argument (Jan. 22) in the al-Nashiri case, as well as for broader discussion of the state of the military commission system. As an added bonus after that ...
Jan 14, 2019•1 hr 14 min
If your New Year's Resolution involves finding a podcast exploring the legal aspects of major national security events and institutions, we are here to help! Start of 2019 the right way with our first episode of the year. We've got: Syria withdrawal: We explore the separation of powers between Congress and the President in relation to the withdrawal order and, especially, the possibility of keeping a ground force at al Tanif as a way to counterbalance Iran in Syria. John Bolton says that Article...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 29 min
Deep-dive alert! That's right, we are closing out 2018 with a deep-dive episode on the State Secrets Privilege. From Totten to Reynolds and on to the present day, you'll want to tune in for this hour-long exploration of the nature, history, and issues associated with ye ol' State Secrets Privilege! As for the frivolity? Let's just say that if you are not a fan of Chevy Chase, you'll want to skip the final segment.
Dec 18, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Interested in the views of Once and Future Attorney General Bill Barr on questions like the power of the president to initiate a war, remove officials, and other hot separation of powers topics? We read his oral history so you don't have to, along with some other writings, and we unpack it all for you here in Episode 103. For good measure, we've also got a close look at the latest GTMO habeas litigant to attempt (vainly, we suspect) to get the attention of SCOTUS, along with notes on recent uses...
Dec 11, 2018•1 hr 18 min
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Or at least it's the most wonderful time of the week, for we've just posted the latest episode of National Security Law Podcast! Tune in for: Military Commissions -- Things are coming to a head in the al-Nashiri case in connection with a slew of questions arising from the fact that the previously-presiding judge for several years was pursuing appointment as an Immigration Judge. Iranians Indicted and Sanctioned for Ransomware Attacks -- We've got coordin...
Dec 05, 2018•1 hr 1 min
And we're back, full of turkey and much else besides! We hope you all had a restful and grateful Thanksgiving (or, for our non-American listeners, that you had a wonderful ordinary work week), and are fired up for more national security legal analysis. Today we've got: The legality of using tear gas at the US-Mexico border The bizarre "cabinet order" signed by Chief of Staff Kelly purporting to empower DOD to have the troops deployed to the border use lethal force, brief detention, and brief sea...
Nov 27, 2018•1 hr 9 min
It finally happened: a live episode, on the occasion of our 100th episode! Today we recorded at American University Washington College of Law thanks to the good offices of our friend--and co-host this week--Prof. Jen Daskal. It was a great crowd, and full of entirely-typical frivolity in all respects. You know, like Bobby showing up at the wrong American University campus, notwithstanding Steve's very clear directions. But, hey, the pizza we ordered for all the attendees also showed up at that o...
Nov 14, 2018•1 hr 20 min
This week we've got the concluding episode in our trilogy of deep dives exploring the history and evolution of our foreign-intelligence collection legal architecture (see here and here for the two earlier episodes). Our focus this week? Section 702, PRISM, and Upstream: What exactly is this, what are the key points of controversy, and how has it been tweaked by statute recently? Section 215, contact chaining with bulk communications metadata, and the USA Freedom Act: Same questions (what is this...
Nov 06, 2018•1 hr 22 min
In today's episode we take a break from our deep-dive series on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in order to reengage with the weekly inflow of national security law news. We had no choice, really, for one our sustaining members--Doe v. Mattis--saw dramatic developments. So here's what we've got: Military Detention of a US citizen - Erstwhile military detainee and US citizen John Doe has been named! Not only that, but he's been released to Bahrain. And his passport was cancelled. We've ...
Oct 30, 2018•1 hr 14 min
Aaaaand we're back! Yesterday we posted the first in a series of Deep Dive episodes on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, covering the origins and early-evolution of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Today, we pick up the thread with two critical aspects of the story: the rise and (seeming) fall of "the wall" between foreign intelligence and law enforcement investigations; and the rise and fall and transformed-revival of the Terrorist Surveillance Program But wait, there's more....
Oct 26, 2018•1 hr 9 min
