{"id":23419,"date":"2019-08-19T22:05:55","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T22:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/19\/did-seal-team-6-commit-unlawful-command-influence-in-catfishing-case\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:00:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:00:59","slug":"did-seal-team-6-commit-unlawful-command-influence-in-catfishing-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/08\/19\/did-seal-team-6-commit-unlawful-command-influence-in-catfishing-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Did SEAL Team 6 commit unlawful command influence in catfishing case?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A military judge in Norfolk ruled Monday that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/03\/27\/war-crimes-case-expands-to-seal-team-6\/\" target=_blank>SEAL Team 6<\/a> leaders appear to have committed unlawful command influence in the case of a special operator accused of catfishing women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The burden now shifts to prosecutors to prove that SEAL superiors didn\u2019t illegally tamper with the investigation and court-martial against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/27\/sexting-salacious-snapshots-inside-seal-team-6s-spoofing-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\">Special Operator 1st Class Aaron Howard<\/a>, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucmjdefense.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Michael Waddington<\/a>, the defendant\u2019s civilian attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An explosives expert lauded for taking out terrorist supply routes and safe houses in internal SEAL records provided to Navy Times, Howard faces a court-martial trial for allegedly posing as a pair of people who wooed three women through text messages into sending racy images of themselves in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The victims are an aircrew survival equipmentman second class and two civilians, prosecutors say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy judge Capt. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.evawintl.org\/speakers.aspx?speakerid=1575&#038;speakername=+Michael+J.+Luken&#038;rwndrnd=0.8083931228611618\" target=_blank>Michael Luken<\/a> has scheduled an Oct. 7 showdown in Norfolk between prosecutors and Howard\u2019s defense team to see if Virginia-based SEAL Team 6 torpedoed their own case by denying the defendant a chance to get a fair hearing, Waddington told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Called the \u201cmortal enemy of military justice,\u201d UCI occurs when superiors utter words or take actions that improperly influence the outcome of court-martial cases, jeopardize the appellate process or undermine the public\u2019s confidence in the armed forces by appearing to tip the scales of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military officials on Monday did not respond to requests by Navy Times for comment on the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/27\/sexting-salacious-snapshots-inside-seal-team-6s-spoofing-scandal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/seal-trident.jpg_32678f.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Sexting, salacious snapshots: Inside SEAL Team 6\u2032s spoofing scandal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">It&#039;s the latest imbroglio to embarrass the SEALs, the elite special operators once lauded as \u201csilent professionals\u201d who eschewed the shenanigans that snagged headlines.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monday\u2019s hearing the latest headache for Navy prosecutors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/2019\/05\/17\/secret-tracking-device-found-in-navy-email-to-navy-times-amid-leak-investigation-raises-legal-ethical-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\">taking on a member<\/a> of one of the military\u2019s most elite, but often secretive, units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, Waddington hit them with a motion to dismiss the entire case, alleging that Howard\u2019s enlisted leaders called him an \u201c(expletive) idiot\u201d who \u201ccannot be trusted\u201d because he retained an attorney in January 2018, a month after SEAL Team 6 began snooping for the catfishing culprit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waddington\u2019s legal filings accuse SEAL superiors of directing Howard\u2019s peers to forgo aiding his defense by testifying about his combat record, truthfulness or character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the spring of 2018, the unit\u2019s command held an all-hands briefing that detailed the facts and findings of the probe, the motion states. It also alleges that a PowerPoint presentation was circulated to the entire Naval Special Warfare Development Group team \u201cthat discussed the facts of this case and implied that SO1 Howard was guilty of various offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a result of the above actions taken by the command, SO1 Howard\u2019s SEAL team members have shunned him and refused to participate in his case, in any manner,\u201d it contends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Motions by Waddington also allege that no one from Howard\u2019s command ever presented the SEAL with the Bronze Star with Valor he was awarded in 2017, and that Howard \u201cfound his award in the trash can in the DEVGRU Admin office\u201d in mid-2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waddington said Monday that special operators who were summoned to testify skipped the hearing but Capt. Luken ordered some of them to attend the October session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waddington said he was told that some in SEAL Team 6 believe their ability to carry out covert missions will be compromised if they testify.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/22\/internal-report-exposes-cocaine-abuse-lax-testing-inside-seal-team-10\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-cocaine-web.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Internal report exposes cocaine abuse, lax testing, inside SEAL Team 10<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">In the wake of the probe, SEAL Team 10\u2032s superiors at Naval Special Warfare Group 2 updated the urinalysis program, retrained those who administer the tests and hiked the frequency of the screenings, according to the Navy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A member of SEAL Team 6 since 2014 and its Sailor of the Year two years later, the highly-decorated Howard has said he\u2019s languishing in legal limbo at DEVGRU, his days now spent performing menial chores such as painting buildings instead of hunting terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waddington says he has no idea how DEVGRU leaders came to suspect Howard as the catfisher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Called the \u201cmortal enemy of military justice,\u201d UCI occurs when superiors utter words or take actions that improperly influence the outcome of court-martial cases, jeopardize the appellate process or undermine the public\u2019s confidence in the armed forces by appearing to tip the scales of justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":40081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,22,23,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3355],"class_list":["post-23419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-disaster","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LG5VYOLMJ5GRDMJCSE3RD5Q6V4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/08\/19\/did-seal-team-6-commit-unlawful-command-influence-in-catfishing-case\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Did SEAL Team 6 commit unlawful command influence in catfishing case? - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Called the \u201cmortal enemy of military justice,\u201d UCI occurs when superiors utter words or take actions that improperly influence the outcome of court-martial cases, jeopardize the appellate process or undermine the public\u2019s confidence in the armed forces by appearing to tip the scales of justice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did SEAL Team 6 commit unlawful command influence in catfishing case?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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