{"id":49336,"date":"2019-11-27T00:27:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T00:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/27\/trumps-actions-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:03:22","slug":"trumps-actions-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/27\/trumps-actions-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s actions raise concern about role in military justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared that President Donald Trump ordered him to stop a disciplinary review of a Navy SEAL accused of battlefield misconduct, an intervention that raised questions about America\u2019s commitment to international standards for battlefield ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper\u2019s comments on Monday were the latest twist in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/11\/25\/secdef-explains-why-navy-secretary-was-fired-over-double-talk-in-seal-trident-controversy\/\" target=_blank>the case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher<\/a>, which led to a conflict between Trump and armed services leaders over military discipline. The dispute peaked over the weekend with t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/11\/24\/spencer-out-as-secretary-of-the-navy-over-seal-trident-scandal\/\" target=_blank>he firing of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gallagher was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but convicted by a military jury of posing with the corpse while in Iraq in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper initially favored allowing the Navy to proceed with a peer-review board which could have resulted in Gallagher losing his SEAL status, but he said he was obliged to follow Trump\u2019s order. Still, Esper also directed the Pentagon\u2019s legal office to review how service members are educated in the laws of armed conflict and trained to wartime behavioral standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can control what I can control,\u201d Esper told reporters when asked whether Trump sent the right message to U.S. troops by intervening to stop the Gallagher review. \u201cThe president is the commander in chief. He has every right, authority and privilege to do what he wants to do.\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\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/26\/trump-im-sticking-up-for-our-armed-forces\/\" 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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19329737384874.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\">Trump: \u2018I\u2019m sticking up for our armed forces\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">He defended his recent controversial clemency moves by saying former President Barack Obama misused his pardon power.<\/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\">In yet another twist to the Gallagher saga, Esper also made an extraordinary accusation against Spencer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper said Spencer had gone behind his back last week to propose a secret deal with the White House in which Spencer would fix the outcome of the Gallagher review. Esper said this was a violation of the military chain of command and said Spencer acknowledged his misstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through a Navy spokesman, Spencer declined requests for comment on Esper\u2019s allegation. However, in a letter to Trump on Sunday he said he could not in good conscience follow an order that he believed would undermine the principle of good order and discipline in the military \u2014 suggesting he had been ordered to stop the peer-review process for Gallagher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2210\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Navy Secretary Richard Spencer\" class=\"wp-image-49461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg?resize=300,221 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg?resize=768,566 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,754 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1132 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19329443478036.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1509 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Then-Navy Secretary Richard Spencer fields questions Nov. 23 at a media availability at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Andrew Vaughan\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump began to get involved in the Gallagher case in the spring after Bernard Kerik, a former business partner to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, became an advocate for the family and made appearances in conservative media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SEAL also changed his defense team to include Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump real estate company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president has tweeted in support of Gallagher, praising the sailor\u2019s service and saying the case was \u201chandled very badly from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, Trump restored Gallagher\u2019s rank, which had been reduced in his military jury conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump also pardoned two soldiers \u2014 a former Army Special Forces soldier set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bombmaker in 2010 and an Army officer who had been convicted of murder for ordering his soldiers to fire on three unarmed Afghan men in 2012, killing two.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/22\/clemency-for-war-criminals-an-insult-to-the-military-lawmaker-argues\/\" 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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19325833353553.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\">Clemency for war criminals an \u2018insult\u2019 to the military, lawmaker argues<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A top Senate Democrat says pardons, forgiveness should not have been given to service members embroiled in three controversial cases.<\/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\">Beyond the Spencer firing, the Gallagher case has raised questions about the appropriate role of a U.S. president in matters of military justice. Esper said Trump had a constitutional right to intervene, but others worry that such actions undermine the credibility of American claims to be a leader in ethical and lawful behavior on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat concerns me the most is the chilling effect this will have on special forces\u2019 willingness to report when they see illegal behavior,\u201d James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral, said in an email to The Associated Press. \u201cThat is tragic because in the end what separates us from our opponents on the battlefield is our willingness to follow the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and an Army veteran, accused Trump of \u201cinappropriate involvement\u201d in the military justice system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe White House\u2019s handling of this matter erodes the basic command structure of the military and the basic function of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said Trump\u2019s action undercut the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to be a standard for the world in terms of rule of law,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned that it undermines our own military; it undermines our standing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has said Gallagher was treated unfairly by the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think what I\u2019m doing is sticking up for our armed forces,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cThere\u2019s never been a president who is going to stick up for them and has like I have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week Trump tweeted that Gallagher must be allowed to retire as a SEAL, regardless of the Navy\u2019s intention to review his standing in the elite force. Esper\u2019s comments Monday revealed that on Sunday Trump had given the defense secretary a direct order to make this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even before receiving that order, however, Esper had decided the Gallagher process should be stopped. He said his rationale was that, \u201cgiven the events of the last few days,\u201d it was no longer possible for Gallagher to get a fair shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs professional as they are,\u201d he said of the Navy review board members, \u201cno matter what they would decide, they would be criticized from many sides, which would further drag this issue on, dividing the institution. I want the SEALs and the Navy to move beyond this now, fully focused on their warfighting mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In announcing Sunday that he had dismissed Spencer, Esper said he acted after learning of Spencer\u2019s secret plan to \u201cguarantee\u201d in advance the outcome of the review board that was to convene next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spencer had \u201cproposed a deal whereby if the president allowed the Navy to handle the case, he would guarantee that Eddie Gallagher would be restored to rank, allowed to retain his Trident and permitted to retire,\u201d Esper said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was \u201ccompletely contrary\u201d to what Esper and the rest of the Pentagon leadership had agreed to, he said, and contrary to Spencer\u2019s public position that the Navy disciplinary process should be allowed to play out with no interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper said he had previously advocated for allowing the Navy review to go forward. But when Trump gave him a \u201cverbal instruction\u201d to stop the process, he did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper did not say explicitly that he disagreed with Trump\u2019s order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once Trump gave the order, Esper said he responded, \u201cRoger. I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writer Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared that President Donald Trump ordered him to stop a disciplinary review of a Navy SEAL accused of battlefield misconduct, an intervention that raised questions about America\u2019s commitment to international standards for battlefield ethics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88469,"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":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2484],"class_list":["post-49336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"U2DXQNDKBJBNHOYOPCVEQDOSMM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/27\/trumps-actions-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice\/","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>Trump\u2019s actions raise concern about role in military justice - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared that President Donald Trump ordered him to stop a disciplinary review of a Navy SEAL accused of battlefield misconduct, an intervention that raised questions about America\u2019s commitment to international standards for battlefield ethics.\" \/>\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=\"Trump\u2019s actions raise concern about role in military justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared that President Donald Trump ordered him to stop a disciplinary review of a Navy SEAL accused of battlefield misconduct, an intervention that raised questions about America\u2019s commitment to international standards for battlefield ethics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/27\/trumps-actions-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-27T00:27:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T08:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. 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