Pete Buttigieg hits Trump on soldiers' pardons
November 16, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Saturday tore into President Donald Trump for pardoning two Army officers who were accused or found guilty of war crimes.
“There’s nothing pro-military about overruling our military justice system to prevent it from delivering accountability for war crimes,” Buttigieg tweeted. “The president has again dishonored our armed services.”
The comments from the South Bend, Ind., mayor who served in Afghanistan came after Trump granted clemency to Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Matthew Golsteyn despite lingering concerns the pardons could undermine the military justice system. The president also restored Navy SEAL Ed Gallagher’s rank to chief petty officer.
The White House said in a statement released Friday the military justice system “helps ensure good order and discipline,” but Trump had the “authority to offer second chances” to soldiers.
Lorance was found guilty of second-degree murder for ordering his soldiers to fire on three men in Afghanistan in 2008.
Golsteyn, a Green Beret team leader who has pleaded not guilty, is still set to stand trial for the alleged killing of an alleged terrorist bomb-maker in Afghanistan in 2010.
Gallagher, who was acquitted of murdering a teenage prisoner of war in Iraq, was demoted after being found guilty of posing for photographs with the body.
This isn’t the first time Buttigieg, a former Navy intelligence officer, has been critical of Trump’s relationship with the military.
He previously told ABC it is “an assault on the honor of this country” that Trump allegedly faked an injury to avoid serving in Vietnam.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
