President Trump has intervened in three military justice cases, issuing at least two pardons where U.S. service members have been accused of war crimes, The Washington Post reported on Friday. The president's actions have been expected as officials have debated the president's involvement in the cases over the past several weeks.
The service members involved were notified by Trump over the phone, said the U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, who faced a murder trial scheduled to begin next year, took the phone call and was informed he would receive a full pardon, said his lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse. ...
Other U.S. officials and advocates for the service members involved have said that adopting the president’s desires in the military justice system should not be difficult. It typically focuses with commanders overseeing the process, with Trump serving at the top of that system as commander in chief.
According to The Post, Former Special Forces officer Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn was charged with murdering a suspected Taliban bombmaker in 2010. Golsteyn maintains his killing of the suspected bombmaker had been legal. In the second case, Former Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance was convicted of murder after he ordered his troops to open fire on three individuals in Afghanistan. In the third case, Special Warfare Operator Chief Edwar Gallaher, a Navy Seal, was convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State militant.
In early October, Trump tweeted that he was reviewing the Golsteyn case, calling Golsteyn a highly decorated Green Beret. Trump tweeted, "We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!"
This post will be updated as needed.
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