FORMER SOLDIER APPEALS COURT-MARTIAL CONVICTION
Bergdahl: Trump, McCain comments influenced trial
A former U.S. Army soldier who was court-martialed after he left his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban is asking a federal judge to overturn his military conviction, saying his trial was unduly influenced when former President Donald Trump repeatedly made disparaging comments about him and called for his execution.
Bowe Bergdahl filed the complaint in federal court in Washington, D.C., last month, asking a judge to overturn his court-martial conviction. Bergdahl says Trump’s statements and actions by the late U.S. Sen. John McCain and his military judge violated his Fifth Amendment right to a fair trial.
“The scandalous meddling in a specific case by leaders of the political branches — one of whom was Commander in Chief of the armed forces — would never be tolerated if the proceeding had been a criminal prosecution in this or any other federal district court and should not be tolerated in a court-martial,” Bergdahl’s attorneys wrote in the court filing.
Bergdahl was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after the then-23-year-old from Hailey, Idaho, left his post in Afghanistan in 2009. The soldier maintained he was trying to get outside his post so he could report what he saw as poor leadership within his unit, but he was abducted by the Taliban and held captive for nearly five years.
During that time, Bergdahl was repeatedly beaten and tortured and he became sick from the squalid conditions. After several escape attempts he was caged and shackled to a metal bed frame, according to court documents.
Other U.S. troops took part in a lengthy search for Bergdahl, and several sustained serious wounds during the search efforts. Bergdahl was ultimately returned as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by thenPresident Barack Obama in 2014.
The prisoner swap was criticized by Republicans, and Donald Trump made it a talking point during his presidential campaign. He repeatedly called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor” during campaign rallies and other events, saying the soldier should be executed or left to die in the desert.
In his appeal, Bergdahl said McCain intensely pressured the Army to charge him, calling Bergdahl a “deserter” and threatening to hold a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee if Bergdahl went unpunished.
At the end of his courtmartial, Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged, demoted in rank from sergeant to private and ordered to forfeit $10,000 in pay.