{"id":40980,"date":"2019-04-11T12:39:22","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T12:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/11\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:58:14","slug":"more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/11\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\/","title":{"rendered":"More legal bombshells explode in war crimes case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following a Pentagon directive, in 2009 the Secretary of the Navy ordered his sea service to create a repository of war crimes allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly nine years later, the Navy admitted that they never put anything in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s one of the legal bombshells set to detonate Thursday morning in the ongoing war crimes prosecution of Navy Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier, who stands accused of covering up a string of war crimes involving fellow SEAL Team 7 Chief Special Warfare Operator<a href=\"https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.navytimes.com%2Fnews%2Fyour-navy%2F2018%2F11%2F15%2Fa-jekyll-and-hyde-portrait-emerges-of-the-seal-accused-of-murdering-an-islamic-state-prisoner%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Catilghman%40militarytimes.com%7Ccab1413486fe4e45cca708d68921731b%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C0%7C636847174121108824&amp;sdata=DQheV96RN5%2BF%2BA0ErHhR4XMoPAQf0fyUpvKxcdVznZQ%3D&amp;reserved=0\"> Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Email messages exchanged this week involving multiple attorneys at the Office of the Judge Advocate General at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., and Navy prosecutors in San Diego revealed that the war crimes repository is a shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn accordance with SECNAVINST 3300.1C the Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG) established a central repository in 2009 for alleged law of war violations by or against Navy personnel,\u201d wrote Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Waldo in one Tuesday message. \u201cThe repository does not currently contain any records.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, combatant commanders worldwide and the U.S. Army retain these reports, plus the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Waldo wrote.<\/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\/04\/09\/seal-skipper-defends-new-restrictions-on-special-warfare-chief-freed-by-trump\/\" 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=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gallagher-Iraq-3.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\">SEAL skipper defends restrictions on special warfare chief freed by Trump<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">But Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher&#039;s legal team continues to say the SEAL commodore isn&#039;t following the law.<\/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\">Why does it matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Portier\u2019s legal team on April 2 filed a motion accusing the Navy of selective prosecution and the attorneys are linking the lack of a repository to the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Selective prosecution occurs when prosecutors arbitrarily choose to target one defendant over others who could be alleged to have done similar things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Often the accused is singled out because of race, religion or during a prosecutor\u2019s bad faith effort to prevent the exercise of the defendant\u2019s constitutional rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is troubling that my client is being selectively prosecuted for violating a SECNAV instruction that appears to have been willfully violated by the Navy Judge Advocate General,\u201d said Portier\u2019s civilian defense attorney, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeremiahsullivanlaw.com\/\" target=_blank>Jeremiah J. Sullivan III<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That instruction would serve as a standing lawful order, which Portier allegedly violated by failing to report up his chain of command the accusations against Gallagher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those include claims from fellow SEALs that the chief stabbed to death a seriously wounded Islamic State prisoner of war near the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2017, staged a macabre reenlistment ceremony next to his body, ruthlessly gunned down civilians with his sniper rifle and then threatened the witnesses in an effort to obstruct justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, those allegations should\u2019ve been forwarded \u201cpromptly\u201d and \u201cimmediately\u201d so that they could be placed in the service\u2019s repository, much the way sexual assault accusations are collected by armed forces to the Pentagon and Congress to review, according to the directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s binding not only on the three-star admirals who have presided over the blank repository but also every sailor in the service, regardless of rank or rating.<\/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\/03\/27\/war-crimes-case-expands-to-seal-team-6\/\" 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=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GALLAGHER3.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\">War crimes case expands to SEAL Team 6<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Leaked records show investigators going after the &quot;mean girls&quot; in SEAL Team 6.<\/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\">According to NCIS files provided to Navy Times, the platoon\u2019s lead petty officer told investigators that he informed the platoon\u2019s assistant officer in charge about the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that lieutenant wasn\u2019t charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The LPO also allegedly told a SEAL team command master chief about the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also wasn\u2019t charged, despite allegedly telling the SEAL not to mention the war crimes to their commodore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A fellow petty officer recalled a meeting with their team commander, who allegedly told the SEALs to \u201cstop talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that officer wasn\u2019t charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Signed by Lt. Col. Nicholas W. McCue, an Air Force attorney detailed to Portier\u2019s defense, the motion accuses the Navy of targeting the lieutenant because \u201cprosecutors believe they can get Lt. Portier to testify against &#8230; Gallagher by levying charges against both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other than request that Navy Times continue its policy of never naming operational SEALs mentioned in the files, prosecutors declined comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"698\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/deadboy2.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-32457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/deadboy2.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/deadboy2.jpg.jpg?resize=300,175 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/deadboy2.jpg.jpg?resize=768,447 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/deadboy2.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,596 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The seriously wounded Islamic State fighter, believed to be between 15 and 17 years of age, military prosecutors believe was murdered by a Navy SEAL. (screen shot of YouTube video used as evidence in criminal hearing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a memorandum for trial counsel obtained by Navy Times, the defense team also revealed significant involvement in the case by investigators reporting to the U.S. Department of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The documents don\u2019t name the agency, but defense attorneys want prosecutors to turn over records that show the conversations between Navy officials and federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Partly, the memorandum indicates, that\u2019s because defense attorneys suspect the documents will reveal a pattern of unlawful command influence in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Called the \u201cmortal enemy of military justice,\u201d unlawful command influence, or UCI, occurs when superiors utter words or take actions that wrongfully 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\">If the Navy judge hearing the motions Thursday agrees with defense attorneys, he could toss the entire case against Portier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe defense requests you provide communications between the DOJ and the USN that could be material to a motion for Unlawful Command Influence,\u201d wrote McCue in his message to prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSpecifically, the defense requests you provide any emails or letters wherein officials assigned to either the DOJ or the USN discussed expected outcomes to this case.\u201d<\/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\/2018\/11\/19\/ncis-documents-cast-doubt-on-navy-seals-guilt-in-slaying-of-islamic-state-fighter\/\" 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=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GALLAGHER3.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\">NCIS documents cast doubt on Navy SEAL\u2019s guilt in slaying of Islamic State fighter<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Interviews with two senior Iraqi military leaders contradict nearly every aspect of the federal case against Gallagher, 39, who faces up to 18 criminal counts, including premeditated murder for allegedly stabbing to death a badly wounded Islamic State detainee near Mosul on May 3, 2017.<\/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\">Portier\u2019s legal team already has won several victories, his attorneys say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProsecutors dismissed all false official statement charges against my client, including the alleged false statement that he was unaware of a Law of Armed Conflict violation,\u201d Sullivan told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy client has told the truth and he will be acquitted of all the charges at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier&#8217;s legal team predicts he&#8217;ll be exonerated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32999,"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":[101,22,23,88,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1815],"class_list":["post-40980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-disaster","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VZYS3WAMVRBGBM4URPDBFN75RU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/11\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-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>More legal bombshells explode in war crimes case - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier&#039;s legal team predicts he&#039;ll be exonerated.\" \/>\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=\"More legal bombshells explode in war crimes case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier&#039;s legal team predicts he&#039;ll be exonerated.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/11\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-11T12:39:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:58:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Navy Times staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Navy Times staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"More legal bombshells explode in war crimes case\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-04-11T12:39:22+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:58:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 931,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/EddieIraq.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Disaster | Advertiser Safety\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Left Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Your Navy\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"More legal bombshells explode in war crimes case - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/11\\\/more-legal-bombshells-explode-in-war-crimes-case\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/EddieIraq.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-04-11T12:39:22+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:58:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Lt. 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