The National Security Law Podcast - Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck

Latest Episodes:

Episode 156: This Podcast Is VUCA! Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

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!

Episode 155: This Podcast Is Not Wearing a Facemask (But It Did Wash Its Hands) Feb 26, 2020

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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? Tune in to find out. Trumplandia and the courts The City of Costa Mesa sues everybody after learning that the CDC might send asymptomatic but covid-19 positive individuals into isolation there. SCOTUS rejects Bivens status in Hernandez, the cross-border shooting case Judge Leon declines to dismiss the Larabee suit (challenging the idea that retired servicemembers remain subject to UCMJ jurisdiction. And then, for frivolity: a review of the new Star Wars ride (Rise of the Resistance) at Disneyland; a review of Come From Away; and a review of the latest episodes of Picard.

Episode 154: This Podcast Is Not Just a “Piece of Metal” Feb 19, 2020

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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 murder a federal officer does not apply overseas. Judicial clerkships: Not a national security topic, but an important one for law students--and the rest of us--to ponder. The frivolity this week was supposed to be a review of the three most recent episodes of Picard. But no, Bobby had to go and ruin it by calling a halt to the recording right at the end in order to go attend some "meeting." Likely story! Alas, no Picard until next week. On the other hand, there's some spontaneous frivolity at the beginning of the show regarding the Astros scandal. So, you've got that going for you, which is nice!

Episode 153: This Podcast Has All the Elsas (But No Eminem) Feb 12, 2020

Show notes

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 quarantine law, just in case... The case of Omar Ameen and legal issues associated with non-refoulement The War Powers bill in the Senate: what would it actually mean to "withdraw" from hostilities with Iran, while still being in Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State? Steve gets all the colors! (You have to listen to find out what that means) We end, as always, with frivolity. Oscar awards recap time!

Episode 152: John Bolton Is Welcome to Testify on this Podcast Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

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 submitted to the FISC in relation to Carter Page, and what this might mean as we continue to barrel towards the Ides of March deadline for renewal (or not) of four FISA authorities. Testimony at GTMO from the architects of the "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" program CIA used on high-value detainees, reminding us among other things that the 9/11 trial is supposed to start in (checks watch) less than a year. Eddie Gallagher's decision to denounce the servicemembers who testified against him, and then to circulate information about precisely where those people can be found, might seem merely bad taste in the case of a civilian. But for a retired servicemember subject to recall, and subject as well to the rather broad scope of certain UCMJ offenses, might the answer be different? The show concludes with a reminiscence about Kobe Bryant, and then a review of...Picard, of course!

Episode 151: This Podcast Deserves (at Least) One Vote for the Hall of Fame Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

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.

Episode 150: This Podcast Can’t Spell Sesquicenteninial! Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

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...

Episode 149: This Podcast Will Not Serve as a Notification to Anyone About Anything Jan 06, 2020

Show notes

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.

Episode 148: This Podcast Is “Thug #7” Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

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 designates March as Subpoena-palooza month! That's right, oral argument in all three Trump-related subpoena cases will occur in consolidated fashion then, with an opinion then expected by the end of June. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY'20 is on its way to the President's desk, and will soon be law. But what you really want to know, of course, is ... how was the Dear Evan Hansen performance the other night? Your cohosts were there, and have a report!

Episode 147: Sometimes You Get a Donald J. Trump Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

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 Afghanistan The attempt to Dzokhar Tsarnaev to make a claim for juror/prosecutor bias in the Bostom Marathon bombing case The decision to suspend the process of designating 1 or more Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations That, plus some frivolous commentary on football. Alas, no review (yet) of Mandalorian episode 5....

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