Donald Trump Talked His Way Into the Bowe Bergdahl Case
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was captured by the Taliban after abandoning his post in Afgahnistan and freed five years later in a prisoner swap, is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. Key among his legal tactics, his defense team says, is Donald Trump.
Bergdahl—who was captured by the Taliban in 2009 and freed as part of a 2014 prisoner swap—has been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, an obscure charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
His lawyers today released a 371-page transcript of an interview conducted by the military a few months after Bergdahl was released back to the U.S.
The documents are notable, not only because Bergdahl reveals his reason for leaving his post (to alert a general to what he felt were “dangerous leadership problems in his unit”), but also because they show Bergdahl was originally facing—at most—a year in prison.
The documents, which have not previously been disclosed, indicate that the Army’s 22-member investigative team, which spent two months interviewing scores of witnesses and compiled the report that formed the initial basis for prosecuting Sergeant Bergdahl, never proposed that he could be tried on the most serious charge he now faces: endangering the troops sent to search for him.
One reason Bergdahl is now facing a life sentence, his lawyers say, is because the trial became politicized by the right. Among the biggest detractors: Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) who declared Bergdahl “clearly a deserter,” and Trump, who has repeatedly called Bergdahl a traitor and says Bergdahl “should have been executed.” He’s also claimed “five soldiers” died trying to save Bergdahl, which the Pentagon confirms is a lie.
To that end, Bergdahl’s legal team wants to depose Trump, claiming Trump’s statements are compromising Bergdahl’s right to a fair trial. And since no one, not even the Army, is accusing Bergdahl of defecting, his lawyers tell the Times they consider Trump’s statements to be defamatory—ironically, one of Trump’s favorite causes of action.
