Deserter Bowe Bergdahl Asks Obama For Pardon
He’d certainly never get one from President Trump
We covered the deserter Bowe Bergdahl’s story since Obama first announced he had negotiated the release of a “hero” for five top Taliban terrorists, the humiliating Rose Garden spectacle, and the subsequent revelations about Bergdahl’s desertion, his attempts to join the Taliban, and the announcement of his pending court martial.
Now Berghdahl is begging Obama for a pardon before President-elect Trump takes office.
The Washington Examiner reports:
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his Army outpost and was taken prisoner by the Taliban, has asked President Obama to pardon him before leaving the White House next month, according to a report Friday evening.
Bergdahl was freed following five years in captivity in 2014 when the U.S. gave up five Taliban detainees in return for the disgraced service member. The letter was addressed to Obama and thanked him for making the swap that brought him back to the U.S. He is now petitioning the Justice Department for clemency before President-elect Trump takes office due to the Republican’s opposition to him, according to the New York Times.
Bergdahl’s lead defense lawyer, Eugene Fidell, requested a pre-emptive pardon that would preclude his client’s trial on desertion and misbehavior charges. His trial is scheduled to start April 18, 2017. Fidell said if the case has not been approved by Inauguration Day, he will submit a motion to have it dismissed.
Trump railed against Bergdahl while on the campaign trail, calling him a “dirty, rotten traitor” and joked about shooting him for abandoning his troops.
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Comments
To request a pardon is to say that you would accept one if offered; to accept a pardon is an admission of guilt.
Not strictly true.
You can be pardoned for any actions which might have been contrary to law without any admission of guilt (a la Nixon), which is what Hillary Clinton is going to begging for between now and January 16th, 2017.
He just destroyed the cover-up put in place by Obama. The NDA’s forced on Service Members just went ‘invalid’.
The UCMJ is very specific about what ‘charges/sentencing’ he faces. Firing squad anyone?
The NDA’s forced on Service Members just went ‘invalid’.
Why? Was there some “trigger” that if Bergdahl sought pardon those NDA’s would become invalid?
I highly doubt it. Unless there’s something that I missed (I haven’t been paying close attention to it).
I can think of a much more creative method of punishment for Bergdahl than firing squad. I think my preferred one right now is having him sent to McMurdo Station and given a small office in one of the storage buildings for living quarters. He’d entitled to a bed, a couch, a television (McMurdo gets 3 television stations) and 3 meals per day. No job, no internet, no telephone, no outside-world contact. Ever.
He’s free to leave the station at any time he wants with two restrictions: it must be on foot, and he can’t take more than 10 pounds of supplies, including his clothing.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for Berghdahl. He should not get a pardon. His sentence should depend on two things: Precedent, which isn’t in short supply, and whether or not anyone died or was seriously injured because of his desertion.