Donald Trump gave direct order to let US Navy Seal who posed with corpse keep elite status, says Pentagon chief Mark Esper
- US Defence Secretary earlier fired Navy secretary Richard Spencer, saying he offered White House secret deal to rig disciplinary process
- Edward Gallagher was acquitted of murder in stabbing death of Isis captive but was convicted of posing with body
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday that President Donald Trump gave him a direct order to allow a Navy Seal accused of war crimes to retire without losing his Seal status.
Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that Trump’s order was the reason he announced Sunday that Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher would be allowed to retire with his Trident Pin, retaining his status as a Seal.
Last week Trump had tweeted that he wanted Gallagher to be allowed to retire as a Seal, but Esper’s comments Monday revealed that Trump had given the defence secretary a direct order to make this happen.
Gallagher was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but convicted of posing with the corpse while in Iraq in 2017.
In his remarks, Esper also made the extraordinary accusation that Navy Secretary Richard Spencer last week had secretly offered to the White House to rig the Navy disciplinary process to ensure that Gallagher not lose his Trident. He did not say how.