The Mercury News Weekend

Trump’s personal interventi­on on military and civilian cases

- By DoyleMcMan­us Los Angeles Times Doyle McManus is a Los Angeles Times columnist. © 2019, Los Angeles Times. Distribute­d by Tribune Content Agency.

WASHINGTON » Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a decorated Navy SEAL, was accused by other members of his unit of war crimes, including stabbing a wounded prisoner in Iraq who was awaiting medical care.

After a military trial delayed by prosecutor­ial misconduct, Gallagher was acquitted of murder this summer but convicted of posing for a photograph with the prisoner’s corpse. He had texted the picture with a caption: “Got him with my hunting knife.”

Gallagher said he was railroaded by subordinat­es who chafed under his leadership. He found a powerful ally in Fox News, which brought his case to the attention of a more powerful ally, President Donald Trump.

Over the weekend, Trump intervened to stop the Navy from stripping Gallagher of his membership in their elite ranks and taking away his SEAL badge, the Trident.

In doing that, Trump overruled his own secretary of defense, Mark Esper; his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley; his secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer; and the SEAL commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green.

“I’m standing up for our armed forces,” Trump said.

He was blunter last month. “We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!” he tweeted. Let’s add up the damage here. Trump has suggested U.S. troops shouldn’t be prosecuted formurderi­ng civilians, even though it’s a violation of military law. In addition to Gallagher, he has pardoned three Army officers convicted in military courts of murder.

Trump hasmade clear that military justice can be derailed by anyone with wellconnec­ted backing. And he’s undercut the authority of the Pentagon’s entire chain of command.

Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale, told me, “The president has weaponized the administra­tion of the armed forces. Who gets promoted? Who gets to retain their aviator’s wings? Who gets to keep their rank? It depends on whether you have influentia­l friends or a lawyer who can call the White House.”

Trump’s personal interventi­on in the administra­tion of justice extends to civilian cases, too — at least when his friends are involved.

He has pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of his most vociferous allies; conservati­ve author Dinesh D’Souza, another supporter; and Conrad Black, who wrote an enthusiast­ic book about Trump.

Trump also commuted the sentence of a woman serving life in prison — but only after reality television star Kim Kardashian West pleaded the woman’s case in the Oval Office.

None of these cases went through the Justice Department’s formal process for pardons and clemency. All were arranged through personal appeals to the president — a patronage channel.

Trump also often demands federal authoritie­s investigat­e, or imprison, his critics, adversarie­s and political opponents. Meanwhile, the president and his lawyers say he’s immune fromevery kind of prosecutio­n.

Through his pardons, both military and civilian, he’s sending a clear message: If you’re on his side, as former Navy Secretary Spencer put it, “You can get away with things.”

Trump often breaks “norms.” But his abuse of the pardon power, his sweeping assertions of immunity and his demands that the Justice Department bend to his will suggest what can happen if enough norms are broken over and over.

He has made the administra­tion of justice an instrument to reward his friends and harass his adversarie­s.

He’s seeking to replace the rule of law with the rule of Trump.

 ?? ROBERT F. BUKATY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? If you’re on President Donald Trump’s side, as former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, above, put it, “You can get away with things.”
ROBERT F. BUKATY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS If you’re on President Donald Trump’s side, as former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, above, put it, “You can get away with things.”

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