The National Security Law Podcast: The North Remembers…the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998???

In this week’s episode, Professors Chesney and Vladeck focus on two subjects: the extradition of Ali Damache and what it might portend for Trump administration counterterrorism policy, and the slate of issues surrounding the potential removal of Attorney General Sessions. The Damache case is interesting on its own terms in light of the underlying crime (a plot to kill the Swedish artist Lars Vilk, including the recruitment of three Americans to the conspiracy), and also because Ireland previously refused extradition of Damache on the ground that he would likely end up in the SuperMax in Colorado and, there, experience inhuman and degrading treatment (in the form of prolonged solitary confinement). Spain had no such qualms, and now Damache faces charges in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that President Trump is eager for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign and that Sessions might be fired if he won’t go of his own accord. Your hosts walk through the three major pathways to removal, each of which has its own set of legal and political complications. Finally…it may be summer in Austin, but it’s winter in Westeros. Inevitably, this leads Steve and Bobby to close out the episode with their oh-so-expert comments on the first two episodes of Game of Thrones Season 7.