Bergdahl requests a pardon

Sergeant asks Obama for clemency, hoping to avoid court-martial over Army desertion.

WASHINGTON — Bowe Bergdahl, the former prisoner of war who’s accused of endangering comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan, is asking President Obama to pardon him before leaving office.

White House and Justice Department officials said Saturday that Bergdahl had submitted copies of a clemency request seeking leniency. If granted by Obama, it would avert a court-martial trial scheduled for April where Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the latter of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Bergdahl, an Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years.

The Obama administration’s decision in May 2014 to exchange him for five Taliban prisoners being held at the U.S prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, touched off a firestorm of criticism, with some Republicans accusing Obama of jeopardizing the safety of a nation for a deserter. Lawmakers expressed outrage that the Obama administration did not give Congress a 30-day notice about transferring the detainees to Qatar, as required by law.

President-elect Donald Trump was particularly critical of the prisoner deal during the presidential campaign, describing Bergdahl as a “no-good traitor who should have been executed.” Trump has at times held up an imaginary rifle as if he were taking aim at Bergdahl, and declared at a Las Vegas rally in October that “30 years ago, he would have been shot.”

Bergdahl’s lead defense lawyer, Eugene Fidell, declined to comment Saturday. Fidell previously described Trump’s comments as prejudicial, saying they threatened Bergdahl’s right to a fair trial.

Bergdahl’s disappearance and the possibility that he might face light punishment angered many in the military, given that his fellow soldiers took considerable risks to search for him. Bergdahl has said he walked off his post because he wanted to draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit.

His request to Obama was confirmed by unnamed White House and Justice Department officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The New York Times first reported Bergdahl’s request for a pardon.

Andrew Craft Fayetteville Observer BOWE BERGDAHL, right, was held by the Taliban and its allies for five years after leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009 — to draw attention to problems in his unit, he said. He could get life in prison.