Episode 94: The Enemy of My Friend Is My Enemy

October 10, 2018

It’s a late-night, mid-week episode of the National Security Law Podcast! We’ve got:

  • Senator Kaine’s letter to DOD raising questions about the theory of collective self-defense as applied in the domestic law context, in relation to the AUMF and Article II.
  • Speaking of the AUMF, it’s the 17th anniversary of the opening of overt US military engagement in Afghanistan.
  • Doe v. Mattis is over at last!  Just kidding, it’s totally not over.  Instead, today was the 7th consecutive extension of time as the parties continue to try to work out whatever it is they are trying to work out. The beat goes on….
  • The possible murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey continues to spark outrage, and so we explore some of the legal questions including the potential application of the Magnitsky Act and also the odd question of how to think about a lethal use of force inside of a consulate from an UN Charter Article 2(4) perspective.
  • The remarkable extradition of a Chinese Ministry for State Security case officer, from Belgium to the US, to face charges involving theft of IP from American aviation companies.
  • The fascinating question of whether 5 USC 3110 (the Anti-Nepotism Act) would apply were President Trump to attempt to make his daughter the new UN Ambassador, and whether application of the statute in that context would raise constitutional problems.
  • The ECHR decision in Big Brother Watch and Others v. United Kingdom, finding that certain aspects of UK surveillance law violate Article 8 (privacy) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As for the requisite frivolity: we’ve got concert reviews, with Steve weighing in on the Indigo Girls and Bobby reporting back from ACL Fest Weekend One, with both Paul McCartney and Greta Van Fleet on tap.

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