Donald Trump has ‘very little understanding’ of military, says fired Navy chief Richard Spencer
- Ousted official calls president’s intervention in Edward Gallagher war crimes case ‘shocking’ and unprecedented
- Spencer worked on secret deal with White House to let Navy Seal retire without losing elite status after he was convicted of posing with Isis militant’s corpse
Richard Spencer, who was fired as US Navy secretary for his handling of a Seal war crimes case championed by President Donald Trump, has writte nthat the commander in chief “has very little understanding” of how the American military works.
The extraordinary accusation came in an opinion piece published on The Washington Post’s website on Wednesday evening, three days after he was fired. Spencer called Trump’s intervention in the case of Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher “shocking” and unprecedented.
Spencer was fired on Sunday by Defence Secretary Mark Esper for working a private deal with the White House to ensure that Gallagher be allowed to retire without losing his Seal status.
In his Post article, Spencer acknowledged his mistake but also asserted that Trump’s actions were detrimental to the military.
Spencer said Trump had involved himself in the Gallagher case “almost from the start” by telephoning Spencer even before the Seal’s court martial started to ask that Gallagher be moved out of confinement at a Navy brig.