Trump ignores Pentagon advice and intervenes in military war crimes cases
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump ignored Pentagon advice Friday and pardoned two service members, while also restoring the rank of a third after all faced war crimes allegations.
Trump
granted full pardons to Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Army Major
Mathew Golsteyn, and restored the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie R. Gallagher,
who had been demoted.
Lorance was released
from the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, just before 10:30 p.m. local time Friday. He was wearing his
Army uniform, according to CNN Producer Dan Shepherd who witnessed the
reunion. His aunt, uncle, cousin and three nieces were waiting for him
at a hotel following his release.
Defense
Secretary Mark Esper and other senior military leaders had told the
President that a presidential pardon could potentially damage the
integrity of the military judicial system, the ability of military
leaders to ensure good order and discipline, and the confidence of US
allies and partners who host US troops.
A
US Defense official told CNN that the leadership of the Defense
Department made every effort to ensure that the President had all the
necessary information at his disposal prior to making this decision.
Even so, the President moved ahead with the decision, acting on the second day of the House impeachment inquiry's public hearings.
It was also the day that his longtime political adviser and friend
Roger Stone was found guilty of lying to and obstructing Congress in a
case related to Trump and the release of stolen Democratic emails in
2016 by WikiLeaks.
"The
President, as Commander-in-Chief, is ultimately responsible for ensuring
that the law is enforced and when appropriate, that mercy is granted,"
the White House said in a statement. "For more than two hundred years,
presidents have used their authority to offer second chances to
deserving individuals, including those in uniform who have served our
country. These actions are in keeping with this long history. As the
President has stated, 'when our soldiers have to fight for our country, I
want to give them the confidence to fight.' "
"The
Department of Defense has confidence in the military justice system.
The President is part of the military justice system as the
Commander-in-Chief and has the authority to weigh in on matters of this
nature," said Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.
The
Army said in a statement Friday that it will carry out the pardons of
Lorance and Golsteyn, while noting that "The Army has full confidence in
our system of justice."
The Navy tweeted Friday that it has received Trump's order to restore Gallagher's rank and is "implementing it."
Undermining authority of command
Privately
wary that the President would move against their recommendations,
military officials had considered in advance what public posture to take
if Trump refused to listen to their advice. Rather than try to explain a
decision they cannot endorse, Pentagon officials are expected to simply
refer questions to the White House.
"This
goes directly to our military culture," one official told CNN. Another
official said, "We all view this possibility as undermining the
authority of command" in military units.
The
White House statement noted that "the United States military justice
system helps ensure good order and discipline for our millions of
uniformed military members and holds to account those who violate the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. Due in part to this system, we have
the most disciplined, most effective, most respected, and most feared
fighting force in the world."
The statement did not acknowledge Pentagon worries that the President's actions could undermine that discipline and culture.
'Broad support'
Lorance
was found guilty in 2013 of second-degree murder for ordering his men
to fire on three men on a motorcycle in Afghanistan.
Trump
and Vice President Mike Pence spoke with Lorance by phone Friday night
and told him to "get his uniform." Lorance's legal team interpreted that
to mean that he will be going free shortly, according to his lawyer
John Mayer.
Gallagher was demoted
after being found guilty for posing for a photo with a casualty.
Gallagher had faced a court-martial for premeditated murder and
attempted murder, but was acquitted. "Given his service to our Nation, a
promotion back to the rank and pay grade of Chief Petty Officer is
justified," the White House said.
Golsteyn
has been charged with the murder of an Afghan man in 2010. He pleaded
not guilty in June, according to the Army Times. His lawyer, Phillip
Stackhouse, has maintained that the death occurred during a mission
ordered by his superiors.
After
nearly a decade, "a swift resolution to the case of Major Golsteyn is in
the interests of justice," the White House said. "Clemency for Major
Golsteyn has broad support," the statement continued, naming five
Republican House members, an author and former Marine, and the Fox News
contributor and Army veteran Pete Hegseth.
Last week CNN reported that after Army and Navy leaders were surprised by media reports that the President might intervene in the three cases, they called a meeting with Esper.
Those
leaders, like most Army and Navy military and civilian officials,
expressed extreme dismay about the possibility that the soldiers'
sentences could be dismissed or changed, according to several sources
directly familiar with their thinking.
In
an effort to educate and dissuade Trump, the Defense Department put
together an information package to convey to him their concerns and
educate him on the issues. Esper met with Trump to urge the President to
let the Uniform Code of Military Justice prevail.
He
said he had "a robust discussion" with the President and offered Trump
"the facts, the options, my advice, the recommendations."
Officials
all pointed to a central concept that informs the US military ethos:
that US forces are highly trained to operate in a legal and disciplined
manner and if they are found guilty of violations, they must face
punishment.
If the President "were
to overuse his pardon power and in fact release soldiers who have, in
every other way, have the evidence stacked against them, there certainly
could be an impact on the military judicial process going forward,"
said John Kirby, a retired admiral who has served as both Pentagon and
State Department spokesman.
"There
could be an impact on military leaders and their ability to enact
measures of good order and discipline. There also could be a potential
crisis of confidence in the potential countries we're operating in,"
Kirby added.
Commander in chief
One
reason US troops are as welcome as they are worldwide is because
hosting nations "know the American military administers itself according
to a very strict code of justice and we have a very good record of
holding those troops accountable," Kirby said, even for minor scrapes
such as "drunken driving overseas or getting into a fistfight in a bar."
Stackhouse,
the defense counsel for Golsteyn, rejected the concerns of military
leaders and veterans such as Kirby, ignoring their arguments to say
essentially that Trump can do whatever he wants as commander in chief.
"To
the naysayers who say dismissing the charge will undermine commanders
or military justice, they still incredulously refuse to accept that
President Trump is the Commander in Chief of our military and a General
Court-martial Convening Authority," Stackhouse said in a statement last
week.
Speaking of the career
officers who lead the Army and Navy, Stackhouse said their narrative "is
meant to do nothing but undermine [Trump's] leadership and pit civilian
leadership against uniformed leadership."
John
Maher, an attorney for Lorance, told CNN that his legal team and
immediate family were all in Leavenworth, Kansas, last week waiting for
his possible release. Last Friday, the inmate administration had ordered
Lorance to start packing up his bags, forward his mail and close his
bank account to prepare for out processing, Maher said.
Lorance "never got a fair trial," according to Maher, who said the
Army lieutenant and his family have been waiting for five years for this
day.
Before the decision was
announced, Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Gallagher, said his legal
team had not communicated with the White House and "don't presume to
know what the President is thinking," but said, "I certainly think Eddie
Gallagher was treated poorly, as should every American."
Perceptions
in the military differ, though, and the disconnect with the President's
thinking about troops was on clear display after Trump tweeted on
October 12 that "the case of Major Mathew Golsteyn
is now under review at the White House. Mathew is a highly decorated
Green Beret who is being tried for killing a Taliban bombmaker. We train
our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!"
Soldiers
objected quietly, but with emphatic certainty. One young officer,
referring to Trump's "killing machines" comment, said, "That is not who
we are."
An
official explained that "the President might think they acted in
patriotism, but these were war crimes." Speaking of Trump's plans to act
on the three service members' sentences, this official added that "just
because he can do it doesn't mean he should."
This story has been updated with additional background on the cases.
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