Much to the dismay of Democrats, President Donald Trump indicated on Friday that he is considering pardons for certain military personnel who have been accused or convicted of war crimes.
But will he make a move by Memorial Day, or wait for trials to be completed? Trump said Friday that he hasn’t made any decisions yet, but family members who say the service members were unfairly prosecuted or wrongly accused are feeling hopeful.
Lots of pardons, lots of people
News that President Trump was considering military recipients for the presidential pardon first broke a couple of weeks ago. Since then, there has been much speculation about who may be on the list of candidates.
“We are looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly. So we’re going to take a look at it.”
Reports indicated that potential recipients include both those convicted and those accused but not yet tried for war crimes. And although the constitutionally-granted pardon power is fairly unlimited, it is this latter group — the accused — with which many have taken issue.
Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is reportedly one of the soldiers being considered, according to the New York Times. Gallagher, a decorated Navy SEAL who has served eight overseas deployments, is currently facing charges related to his time fighting ISIS in Iraq in 2017. His trial is expected to move forward in June. Also reportedly on the list for consideration are Army Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, Blackwater security contractor Nicholas Slatten, and a group of Marine snipers.
Democrats worried about the rule of law?!
Buying into these reports, Democratic lawmakers attacked the president for potentially undermining the justice system.
“If he follows through,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), “President Trump would undermine American treaty obligations and our military justice system, damage relations with foreign partners and give our enemies one more propaganda tool.”
But maybe Feinstein should start considering the propaganda taking place at home, to which she seems to be susceptible. The president told reporters, “I haven’t done anything yet. I haven’t made any decisions.”
Trump corrects reports
The president went on to acknowledge that some of the cases he is looking at are “controversial,” while directly contradicting those reports that suggested that he may act before military trials take place.
“There’s two or three of them right now,” he said. “It’s a little bit controversial. It’s very possible that I’ll let the trials go on and I’ll make my decision after the trial.”
Earlier in May, Trump pardoned former Army 1st. Lt. Michael Behenna, who was convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner in 2009. “What I was told by President Trump … was that I received a pardon because of the prosecutorial misconduct that happened during the trial,” Behenna said.
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