Trump To Pardon For Eddie Gallagher, Navy SEAL Charged With War Crimes

by Alessa ErawanMay 26, 2019, 10:27 amDaily Digest, Home Featured, News, News Feed, Trump News >

President Donald Trump is preparing to pardon a Navy SEAL who was accused of war crimes.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher is one of a number of service members accused or convicted of war crimes whom Trump may e pardoning. The Trump administration has requested background paperwork on the men for possible pardons by Memorial Day.

Gallagher is charged with firing on civilians in Iraq in 2017 and fatally stabbing a wounded teenage ISIS fighter. He allegedly bragged about the number of his civilian kills and threatened members of his SEAL team if they reported him. He has pleaded not guilty.

In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal #EddieGallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court. Process should move quickly! @foxandfriends @RepRalphNorman

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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2019

Gallagher’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, was quite surprised to hear about Trump’s action and said his client would ideally be acquitted at his trial.

Trump could announce a pardon for Gallagher even before his scheduled trial begins on May 28. Other SEAL team members are still scheduled to testify against him.

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Several veterans have spoken out against this possible pardoning.

I’m sorry if I am exhausting my followers on this topic but pardoning war crimes is not “supporting the troops”. We can’t condone extrajudicial murders. This goes against everything we are trained and raised to uphold. It’s not just the day it’s pardons that must be stopped. https://t.co/SLqcfo28Ht

— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) May 19, 2019

Conservatives want to paint Gallagher as some sort of victim of supposed liberal hatred for the military and for patriotism.

This is bullshit.

Gallagher was accused BY HIS OWN TEAMMATES and remanded to trial by Navy leadership, not some liberal plot.

1/ https://t.co/DiKOx0iP0H

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) May 19, 2019

We’ve lost our way if we even consider a pardon for Ed Gallagher. If you have anything to do with staffing this decision and aren’t doing everything you can to stop it, you’re as much a part of the problem as anyone. https://t.co/22F7iu33lP

— Herbal (@HerbCarmen) May 19, 2019

This is not the first time Trump’s pardons came under fire. Earlier this month, he issued a pardon for former Army First Lt. Michael Behenna, who drove an Iraqi prisoner into the desert in 2008, stripped and fatally shot him. Behenna was convicted and was already serving a reduced when the president pardoned him.