The Illegality of the Maduro Seizure Under Domestic and International Law

Talking Feds

Harry Litman

News, Politics, Government

4.8 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Harry sits down with Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck to dissect the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. From the UN Charter and head-of-state immunity to the infamous 1989 Barr memo, they unpack the administration’s legal gymnastics, multiple legal illegalities, and tenuous positions. In particular, they zero in on the interplay between U.S. criminal law and the international law that we appear to have knowingly violated. They then turn to the long-term practical moral consequences of the operation, including the possible severe damage to U.S. credibility and strategic interests going forward. Mentioned in this episode: Steve's Substack post about Maduro's arrest: https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/200-five-questions-about-the-maduro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why do growing businesses love working in Slack?
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0:36.5	Welcome to Talking Fed's one-on-One, deep dive discussions with national figures
0:42.3	about the most fascinating and consequential issues defining our culture and shaping our lives.
0:49.3	I'm your host, Harry Littman.
0:52.3	It's less than 36 hours after the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro,
0:58.2	and we are wrestling heavily with the legal justifications and the practical implications.
1:04.9	In such legal quandaries in particular, we turn whenever possible for clear-sided analysis, if not bottom-line answers,
1:13.5	which may be elusive here, to Steve Lottick, the Agnes-Williams sesquicentennial professor of
1:20.1	federal courts at Georgetown University Law Center, a regular contributor to the contrarian,
1:26.4	the Supreme Court analyst for CNN, and his book, The Shadow Docket,
	...

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