Trump Reportedly Set To Pardon Eddie Gallagher, Navy SEAL Who Took Photo With Dead ISIS Fighter

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to pardon Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL chief who was convicted after taking a picture with a dead teenage fighter in Iraq in 2017.

Trump is set to restore Gallagher’s rank to chief petty officer as part of the reprieve. Gallagher was found not guilty of killing the ISIS prisoner and targeting civilians with a sniper rifle, both of which would be classified as war crimes.  Gallagher was initially sentenced on July 3 to the lower rank of E-6, was forced to forfeit $2,697 and was given four months’ confinement for posing with the ISIS fighter’s corpse.

SLIDESHOW: TOP DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020

The Navy SEAL’s family had announced last week that it would ask Trump for a presidential pardon. Gallagher’s relatives made the request in an Instagram post, in which it also asked three Republican congressmen for support: Reps. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Duncan Hunter (R-California). In May, Hunter had asked Trump to pardon Gallagher pending the result of his court-martial trial.

Gallagher’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore reportedly wrote an angry letter to his client’s superior, Rear Adm. Collin Green, accusing him of “conspiring to retaliate” against the Navy SEAL chief. Parlatore also rebuked Green for refusing to reprimand other officers under his command in the same way for similar offenses.

“Abandon your fixation on harming Eddie Gallagher and his family,” Parlatore wrote.

“Eddie Gallagher is ready to move on with the next phase of his life,” Parlatore added in the letter, and “go quietly into his retirement.”

According to the Navy Times, Gallagher could earn roughly $200,000 less throughout the course of his retirement if Trump does pardon him. His retirement is currently worth roughly $1.7 million via his military pension.

Article by Pablo Mena

Writer for uPolitics.com. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.

Click here for the Top Democrats Running For President Against Trump In 2020 Slideshow