The Rule of Law Brief

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles examines the unusually deep, often underestimated level of immigration and security cooperation between the United States and Canada. Drawing from his own connection to the St. Lawrence River and his service alongside Canadian officers in Afghanistan, he explains why the U.S.–Canada relationship is unlike any other—and why immigration actions taken in one country reverberate po...

In today’s Rule of Law Brief, we dive into one of the most revealing contradictions in American foreign policy: the United States champions human rights and the laws of war, yet refuses to join the International Criminal Court—and in recent years has shifted from polite non-participation to open hostility.

Drawing on the history of the Rome Statute, the post-9/11 security environment, and the evolution of U.S. power, this episode ex...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles breaks down one of the most widespread misconceptions circulating online: the idea that Donald Trump “can’t be authoritarian” because critics are still able to post about him on social media. Drawing on operational doctrine—not punditry—Nate explains why authoritarianism is not a binary condition but a spectrum along which countries drift over time.

Using the U.S. Army’s Human F...

This episode dismantles a basic—but now politically weaponized—misunderstanding: that the President can use military force simply by designating a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act. That claim is legally false, constitutionally indefensible, and is being pushed in bad faith to justify unlawful military strikes, including the recent attacks on drug boats in the Caribbean.

We walk thro...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles breaks down what actually went wrong during the U.S. drug-boat strikes in the Caribbean — and why the legal failures weren’t subtle, debatable, or ambiguous.

Drawing on his experience as a former Navy SEAL officer assigned to JSOC, Nate explains how a lawful land-warfare tactic — the “double-tap” used against armed combatants inside a declared theater of active armed conflict — ...

In this second installment of our series on international criminal accountability, Nate Charles addresses the most fundamental question in atrocity law: Who is actually responsible for enforcing war crimes and crimes against humanity?

It’s a harder question than it sounds. As Nate explains, everything turns on the doctrine of state sovereignty—the principle that gives each nation supreme authority within its borders and ensures that...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles responds to a listener’s questions about the recent U.S. military strikes on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean. Instead of treating the questions in isolation, Nate reframes the discussion to explain—clearly and directly—the difference between a war crime and a crime against humanity, where these concepts come from, and why the distinction matters.

Drawing on centuries-old law...

In this episode, I address a persistent and misguided argument: the claim that the Geneva Conventions do not apply because the United States is not in a formally declared war. That view collapses the moment you read the text of the treaties themselves. Common Article 2 applies in any armed conflict—“even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.” And Common Article 3 applies in non-international armed conflicts, includi...

In this urgent Thanksgiving-week briefing, Nate Charles — former Navy SEAL, counterterrorism officer, and federal prosecutor — addresses the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House by an Afghan national. He explains why this incident demands seriousness, accuracy, and moral clarity.

Drawing on three Afghanistan combat tours and years inside the National Security Division of DOJ, Nate breaks down what we actually...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, I answer a direct question from a follower: Who can stop Donald Trump at this point? The honest answer is uncomfortable—and it exposes the structural vulnerabilities in our constitutional system.

I walk through the basic checks and balances the Framers designed: judicial review, the power of the purse, and impeachment. Then we examine how each of those mechanisms has broken down—largely beca...

In this urgent briefing, I break down new Associated Press reporting that the FBI’s counterterrorism division has opened an inquiry into Members of Congress who appeared in a video urging U.S. service members to refuse illegal orders. I explain why this is far more than a political dispute: it strikes at the core of the FBI’s own governing rules—the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG) and the Attorney General’s Guid...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, I break down the sudden firing of Capt. Gilbert Clark, the Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. The official reason—“loss of confidence”—is the Navy’s most opaque euphemism, a phrase that conceals far more than it reveals.

I explain what that term actually means inside the fleet, and why it tells us nothing about what really happened. I talk openly about my own experience bein...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles breaks down two explosive developments from the past 24 hours:

1. A federal judge has dismissed the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James after finding that Donald Trump’s hand-picked interim U.S. Attorney was unlawfully appointed. Every action she took—including the indictments themselves—was legally void. The Comey charges are now dead forever due to the expired st...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, attorney and former Navy officer Nate Charles dismantles the latest wave of Republican attacks on Democratic lawmakers who reminded U.S. servicemembers of a simple legal truth: troops must obey lawful orders and refuse unlawful ones.

Drawing on his own training at the U.S. Naval Academy—where within the first week midshipmen are taught the distinction between lawful and unlawful orders—Nate ...

In today’s episode of The Rule of Law Brief, I break down a problem that has infected American political debate for decades: the rampant misuse of the words “communism” and “socialism.”

We start with the actual Merriam-Webster definitions—not the pop-culture ones, not the partisan caricatures, but the authoritative economic and political meanings of these terms. From there, we examine how the modern political right routinely collaps...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, I take a moment to recognize a major achievement by my brother, Jordan Charles—Vice President of the New Glenn Business Unit at Blue Origin—and the entire team responsible for yesterday’s New Glenn launch and booster recovery.

But this isn’t just a family milestone. It’s a chance to examine what spaceflight represents for a democratic society: curiosity, perseverance, long-range ambition, an...

In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles examines the latest congressional release of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails — including Epstein’s own statement that Donald Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of the young women later identified as a trafficking victim.

Rather than focusing on the salacious details, this episode explores a far more dangerous dynamic: the deliberate “slow drip” strategy that numbs the public into...

In this Veterans Day message, Nate Charles speaks candidly about the tension between pride in service and disillusionment with the nation’s current direction.He explains that the oath of service was never to a person or a party, but to the Constitution — a document meant to outlast any single leader.

Drawing from his own experience as a Navy SEAL and federal prosecutor, Charles explores the authoritarian nature of military life, the...

In this deeply personal episode of The Rule of Law Brief, I share the hardest lesson I’ve ever learned.Two years after starting my own law firm, my marriage collapsed — and it was my fault. In the aftermath, as I faced false allegations, isolation, and loss, I discovered something I hadn’t expected: that my ability to recover, to rebuild, and even to love again was itself a reflection of privilege.

Privilege isn’t about guilt. It’s ...