Defense secretary says Trump ordered him to allow SEAL in war crimes case to keep status

[pnwmom]

Source: NBC News

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that President Donald Trump had directed him to allow a Navy SEAL acquitted of war crimes to retire without losing his elite status.

Esper told reporters during a Pentagon briefing that Trump gave him a direct order to drop disciplinary action against Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, who was prosecuted by the Navy and later acquitted of the majority of the war crime charges against him. The decision means Gallagher will be allowed to retire without losing his gold eagle Trident emblem, which signifies that a service member is part of one of the Navy's elite Special Warfare Navy Sea, Air and Land units, or SEALs.

Gallagher's case created friction between Trump and the Navy and led to the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. Trump frequently spoke out about the case, accusing the department of mishandling disciplinary action against Gallagher.

Gallagher, a decorated officer and 19-year veteran, was accused of fatally stabbing a young wounded fighter for the Islamic State militant group, posing for a picture with the corpse and shooting two civilians from a sniper's perch in Iraq in 2017.



Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/defense-secretary-says-trump-ordered-him-allow-seal-war-crimes-n1090581?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&fbclid=IwAR1sAUFoxvVeyfbtESQZHYS9WieiaKofPjS2DpSx6aFe6DCyThF6yX4bgig

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This is the REAL reason Spencer was terminated -- not the fake story Team Orange pushed to the WA Post and other outlets.

And here's a related article:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/25/trump-navy-seal-edward-gallagher-direct-order-mark-esper?CMPfb_gu&utm_mediumSocial&utm_sourceFacebook&fbclidIwAR0Fyh1ZTOd7kcGieUu7qT1r4D6funiW9LlOoqBCJH-iruDZWBY0RgpnUnE#Echobox1574706090


Donald Trump issued a direct order to halt disciplinary measures against a Navy Seal officer accused of war crimes in Iraq, the US defence secretary has revealed.

Mark Esper said the president gave him an instruction on Sunday for Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher to retain his right to wear the Trident pin, the insignia of the elite Navy Seal unit, reversing a demotion by a navy disciplinary board.


Gallagher was acquitted of a murder charge related to the 2017 stabbing of an Isis militant in Iraq, but was found to have posed for a "trophy" photo with the corpse. Trump had called for him to retain his Trident pin on Twitter, and Esper confirmed that the tweet was followed a formal order.

While taking responsibility for carrying out Trump's instructions for Gallagher to avoid disciplinary action, Esper signalled he was uneasy with the decision, saying he would prefer not to have been put in the situation.

[olegramps]

1. He seems to have treated like one of the phony big game hunters with his trophy.

Is this what they are being encouraged by this corrupt administration: That they are big game hunters and the trophies are now humans. Boy, we sure have come a long way back to the point of encouraging our military to take trophies not much unlike savage headhunters. We thought that the vicious radical Muslims were immoral. Just how far we going to allow the Republicans to go in destroying this nation?

[sakabatou]

2. Trumps aids and abets war criminals

[Thomas Hurt]

3. Trump want war crimes, that means you being tough and manly and true leader, blah, blah, blah.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. Sadly, it may be that simple in his simple, damaged brain.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Just following orders. . . . nt

[JudyM]

5. Where is the spitting-at-someone's-feet emoji when we need it?

I’m not in the military but this seems like a big slap in the face to the servicemembers who successfully struggle against their baser impulses to maintain their integrity, and the integrity of the US.

[riversedge]

7. Nothing Trump does crosses the line for Republicans

[mopinko]

8. he would prefer not to have been put in the situation." dude, the time for that was when

they gave you those stripes.