{"id":23656,"date":"2019-08-03T22:12:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T22:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/03\/cno-takes-over-gallagher-case\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:09:56","slug":"cno-takes-over-gallagher-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/08\/03\/cno-takes-over-gallagher-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy CNO takes over Gallagher court-martial amid controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a stunning move Saturday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson removed all court-martial authority from Navy Region Southwest in the case involving Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will assume responsibility for any disposition action in the trial. Any previous post-trial action has been rescinded,\u201d read a statement emailed to Navy Times by the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richardson\u2019s removal of Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar as the convening authority does not change the July 2 verdict by a military panel of Gallagher\u2019s peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Gallagher was charged with stabbing to death a wounded Islamic State prisoner near the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2017 and also firing his sniper rifle at civilians and trying to cover up war crimes back home, the court-martial panel rejected the accusations and found him guilty only of one charge related to posing in photos with the detainee\u2019s dead body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNO\u2019s assertion of jurisdiction over Gallagher\u2019s case came only two days after he ordered authorities in San Diego to dismiss all charges against Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier, the officer in charge of Gallagher\u2019s Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portier had been charged with helping Gallagher cover up alleged crimes which the military jury said never happened. Gallagher never disputed that he appeared in the photos, only noting that he wasn\u2019t the only service member posing with the corpse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military panel in Gallagher\u2019s court-martial case recommended a sentence that included four months behind bars and a reduction in grade to petty officer first class, but Gallagher already had served twice as many months in pretrial confinement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And similar cases involving service members and photos of prisoners of war \u2014 dead or alive \u2014 often were resolved with non-judicial punishment, not a general court-martial that automatically would reduce him to the pay grade of E-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the military, the flag officer who convenes a court-martial gets a final say on the sentencing. Gallagher\u2019s civilian defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore, urged her to let the highly decorated Gallagher retire as a chief petty officer after two decades of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, Gallagher\u2019s pay grade is officially petty officer first class. Although Bolivar had not signed or certified the verdict, he was automatically reduced after 14 days and Naval Special Warfare contacted him so that he could report in the correct uniform, officials told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Richardson gets to make the call on whether he\u2019s permanently an SO1 or, following the regulations, busted down to the lowest enlisted rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChief Gallagher is grateful that the CNO is exercising his authority over this case,\u201d said Parlatore. \u201cAdm. Richardson demonstrated great judgment and leadership in his resolution of the Portier case. And our fervent hope is that this will help expedite us to our ultimate desired goal \u2014 for the harassment and retaliation to end and for Chief Gallagher to retire as a chief petty officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parlatore, ace litigator Marc Mukasey and other members of Gallagher\u2019s legal team had become concerned that problems within Naval Special Warfare, San Diego\u2019s Regional Legal Service Office and Bolivar\u2019s command might affect the SEAL\u2019s sentencing, a sentiment that seemed to be increasingly shared by the CNO and his top boss, President Donald J. Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\t