was affirmed by United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judges M. Margaret McKeown, Arthur Alarcón, and Sandra Segal Ikuta in December 2013.<ref>Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald, 741 F. 3d 1002 - Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 2013 - Google Scholar Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald], 741 F.3d 1002 (9th Cir. 2013).</ref> On February 18, 2014, al-Nashiri attempted to fire his counsel, Rick Kammen. Judge Pohl granted a recess until February 19, 2014, to allow Kammen to attempt to repair the relationship with his client. If the two are unable to overcome their differences, al-Nashiri would be permitted to fire Kammen under current military commission rules. In August 2014, al-Nashiri's military trial judge dismissed the charges relating to the M/V Limburg bombing. The Government appealed to the United States Court of Military Commission Review and al-Nashiri then petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a writ of mandamus disqualifying the military judges. In June 2015, Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson, joined by Judges Judith W. Rogers and Nina Pillard denied al-Nashiri's petition. Al-Nashiri then sued President Barack Obama in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking an injunction preventing proceedings in his military commission trial until his writ of habeas corpus had been resolved. In December 2014, U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts held the case in abeyance pending resolution of al-Nashiri's military commission trial and so denied as moot al-Nashiri's lawsuit against the President. Judge Roberts reasoned that the abstention doctrine announced in Schlesinger v. Councilman (1975), which required judicial review of an ongoing court-martial to wait until it is completed, also applied to al-Nashiri's military commission. In August 2016, D.C. Circuit Judge Thomas B. Griffith, joined by Judge David B. Sentelle, affirmed that judgment, over the dissent of Judge David S. Tatel. On October 18, 2016, the new military judge, Air Force Colonel Vance Spath took a step that Stephen Vladeck, a law professor and national security expert described as "unprecedented". Spath had United States Marshals take Stephen Gill, into custody, to compel him to testify at a pre-trial hearing. In October 2018, al-Nashiri petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a writ of mandamus and prohibition, seeking a vacatur of all military commission orders issued by Colonel Spath. Al-Nashiri argued that inter alia'', Spath had failed to disclose his job application