Five military veterans in Congress reportedly want Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Attorney General Merrick Garland to review options for retrying ex-POW Bowe Bergdahl, whose guilty plea to desertion and misbehavior was vacated by a civilian court.
Republican Reps. Mike Waltz of Florida, Dan Crenshaw and Jake Ellzey of Texas, Ryan Zinke of Montana, and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania are demanding an immediate review of the case, asserting the sentence nullification "dishonors those who served and died alongside Bergdahl," Military.com reported.
"Bergdahl's actions endangered and potentially got his comrades killed," the lawmakers and military vets wrote. "By omission, condoning such behavior puts the lives of future American soldiers in peril."
Bergdahl, a former Army sergeant, pleaded guilty in 2017 to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009 — which led to his capture by the Taliban, who held him for nearly five years.
Bergdahl was given an honorable discharge, his rank was lowered to private, and he forfeited $10,000. His case was then appealed through the military court system, which upheld the original verdict. Bergdahl sued the United States in federal court, Military noted.
U.S. District Court Senior Judge Reggie Walton vacated the sentence last week, dismissing the orders by the judge who presided over Bergdahl's court-martial, Col. Jeffery Nance, because he didn't disclose that he had applied for a position as federal immigration judge in the Trump administration.
The dismissal sets up a number of legal possibilities, including an appeal or a new court-martial in which Bergdahl could plead not guilty, Military.com reported.
The lawmakers want Austin to work with Garland to determine the Department of Defense's options for a new trial.
Crenshaw, Ellzey, and Waltz deployed to Afghanistan. Waltz, chairman of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee, is a Special Forces officer who led teams in the search for Bergdahl, Military.com noted.
According to Waltz's professional bio, he has "continued to lead the call for justice on behalf of all the service-members" that Bergdahl's "desertion put in harm's way."
In their letter, the lawmakers allege that as many as eight Americans died searching for Bergdahl. A subsequent Army probe determined that just one death could be directly attributed to the effort, a soldier who died years later from injuries he sustained during the search.
The lawmakers also noted that the search came at the height of the Afghanistan War, with "combat incidents rising rapidly and additional troops being deployed."
In his decision, Judge Walton ruled for the government in another of Bergdahl's arguments for dismissal of the case — that then-President Trump and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., exerted unlawful command influence by saying negative things about Bergdahl.
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