Federal Judge Throws Out Bowe Bergdahl's Desertion Conviction and Dishonorable Discharge
The actions of a military judge were cited this week as grounds to throw out the 2017 desertion conviction of former Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years with the Taliban after walking off a U.S. Army post in Afghanistan in 2009.
Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order Tuesday vacating Bergdahl’s court-martial proceedings and reversing his dishonorable discharge, The New York Times reported.
Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, found that the military judge in the case, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, had applied for a job with then-President Donald Trump’s Justice Department without disclosing that fact.
Walton wrote in his ruling that Nance “should have disclosed his job application as a potential ground for his disqualification.”
Trump was among many Americans who called Bergdahl a traitor and suggested that he should be executed, the Times reported.
In 2009, Bergdahl walked off an Army post in Afghanistan and disappeared. He later claimed he intended to hike to another military post to report leadership problems.
A massive manhunt ensued, with U.S. troops sent out to comb the dangerous countryside for the missing man.
They failed to find Bergdahl, who had reportedly been captured by the Taliban within hours. During the search effort, many soldiers were exposed to enemy fire.
Several were injured, including Master Sgt. Mark Allen, who was shot in the head in an ambush, leaving him paralyzed and unable to speak, the New York Post reported. Allen died in 2019 of complications from the injury.
Bergdahl was freed when President Barack Obama’s administration, in a controversial move, traded him for five high-level Taliban leaders who were being held at Guantanamo Bay, Reuters reported.
Bergdahl pleaded guilty in 2017 and was demoted to private, receiving a dishonorable discharge instead of prison time, Military.com reported.
He based part of his appeal on statements by Trump and the late Sen. John McCain “publicly impugning him and declaring his guilt,” according to the report.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces upheld the conviction at that time, citing Bergdahl’s guilty plea in the court-martial.
This week’s dismissal of the verdict may allow the Army to retry the case. The decision may be appealed, Military.com reported.
Bergdahl’s legal team said they are studying Walton’s ruling, and the Justice Department and the Army did not respond to requests for comment, according to the outlet.
Reuters quoted military law expert Geoffrey Corn, a retired Army officer, as saying the future of the Army’s case is uncertain.
“Do they bring him back to active duty and retry him? I highly doubt that will happen, but it might,” Corn said.
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