A federal judge has voided the court-martial conviction of former Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who left his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was then captured and held by the Taliban for five years.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton on Tuesday issued a 63-page ruling granting summary judgment in favor of Bergdahl, who was convicted after pleading guilty in 2017 to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Walton argued that Bergdahl was denied a fair trial because the military judge who presided over the court martial, Jeffrey Nance, failed to disclose that he had applied to the executive branch for a job as an immigration judge, creating the potential for a conflict of interest.
Former President Trump had made repeated public statements insulting Bergdahl, calling him a traitor and suggesting he receive the death penalty. Walton noted in the ruling that although many of these comments were made during Trump’s campaign, he leaned into them after he was elected.
While Walton rejected Bergdahl’s lawyers’ argument that Trump exercised undue command influence in his role as commander in chief, he noted that the comments could lead a reasonable person to question Nance’s impartiality in the case, noting that Trump’s comments reflected his “discernible interest in the outcome” of the case.
“Although the Department of Justice was not one of the parties in the plaintiff’s court-martial proceedings, this case is unique in that the head of the executive branch during part of the plaintiff’s court-martial proceedings—former President Trump—and thus the ultimate authority over the agency that would determine the military judge’s appointment as an immigration judge, expressed during his candidacy and subsequently ratified after his election explicit condemnations of the plaintiff, reflecting his ‘discernible interest in the outcome,’” Tuesday’s ruling read.
“Therefore, even though the Department of Justice was not directly involved in the plaintiff’s case as a party, Trump’s statements were integral to the potential success of the plaintiff’s defense,” Walton wrote at another point.
Walton also mentioned the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) comments against Bergdahl at the time. McCain, who served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Bergdahl was “clearly a deserter” and that he would hold a hearing if Bergdahl was not severely punished.
Walton rebuked any public official making remarks on their desired verdict for anyone accused of committing wrongdoing, saying it goes against the concept of innocent until proven guilty, and, “Otherwise, the system will become subject to widespread condemnation by the public it serves.”
Bergdahl attorney Eugene Fidell told The Washington Post, “This is a good day for the rule of law, and it’s a good day for the federal courts, because it shows that while they are respectful of the military justice system, they are going to provide independent judicial review.”
Bergdahl had said he left his post to report what he described as poor leadership in his unit, but he was captured by the Taliban and tortured on-and-off for nearly five years. Court records documented the extent of the torture and noted that he made several escape attempts, resulting in his imprisonment in a small cage for a year.
A prisoner swap returned Bergdahl home in 2014, in exchange for the release of five Taliban leaders who were held at Guantanamo Bay. At the time, then-President Obama held a Rose Garden event celebrating Bergdahl’s freedom, just as reports of his voluntary desertion were surfacing.
Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged and ordered to forfeit $10,000 in pay but did not have to serve any prison time after presenting evidence of his torture under the Taliban.
The Associated Press contributed.