{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/60baafd7d3cdd0001b29d9ee/6af725559dce432809f9cac8?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Rational Security: The “Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue” Edition","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/60baafd7d3cdd0001b29d9ee/1794581722242-0c0b6a9e-ba7e-4380-b4a3-ba4d217ad32e.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>This week, Scott sat down with his <em>Lawfare </em>colleagues Benjamin Wittes, Roger Parloff, and Julia Curlee to talk through the week’s big national security news stories, including: </p><ul><li>“Two Huangs Don’t Make a Right.” This past weekend, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at a Singapore-based Nvidia customer whom U.S. intelligence has reportedly concluded was working for China’s Ministry of State Security—and whose company has been scrutinized for allegedly funneling Nvidia chips to China in violation of U.S. export controls. Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation, the FBI is reportedly looking into the matter, and incoming Democratic majorities are promising congressional inquiries. But the scandal is also raising hard questions for the White House, as reporting now indicates that President Trump was warned about the relationship before personally inviting Huang along on his May trip to Beijing—all while Huang was pressing the administration to loosen restrictions on chip sales to China. What does this mean for Nvidia, for U.S. export control policies, and for the AI industry that Nvidia’s chips play an indispensable part in? </li><li>“Massie Destruction.” This week, lame-duck Republican Rep. Thomas Massie forced the House forced a vote on eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of waging an unlawful war in Iran, pursuing extrajudicial killings through the administration’s ongoing boat strikes, and “kidnapping” Nicolás Maduro, among other charges. House Republicans rallied to successfully kill the measure through a procedural vote on Tuesday evening, but both Massie and House Democrats have suggested this might not be the last we see of this effort. Is impeachment the right tool for holding Hegseth—and the administration—accountable? And what does this effort foreshadow for the next Congress?</li><li>“Arch Nemesis.” Last Thursday, the National Capital Planning Commission—chaired by a White House official and stacked with Trump appointees—voted 8-4 to give final approval to President Trump’s 250-foot “triumphal arch,” which is to be located between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery and has been framed as an object central to the military defense of Washington, D.C. But barely an hour later, Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order blocking construction, finding that D.C. and Virginia—who have both sued to stop the project—are likely to succeed in arguing that it requires congressional authorization under the Commemorative Works Act. Will Trump’s monument to American greatness—or, by his own account, to himself—ever get built? And what does this fight tell us about the limits on the president’s ability to remake the nation’s capital?</li></ul><p>In object lessons, Julia pulls out an old lesson on the <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0712658890?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">psychology of military incompetence</a>. Roger takes a stroll through the <a href=\"https://www.foggybottomassociation.org/history-project\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">history of Foggy Bottom</a>. Scott calls out an <a href=\"https://www.phaidon.com/en-us/products/spaghetti-an-interactive-recipe-book\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">instant children’s classic</a> that really gets kids cooking. And Ben regrets how he answered the conundrum of whether to walk to Lichtenstein. Plus, stay tuned for a bonus object lesson from producer Noam!</p>","author_name":"The Lawfare Institute"}