The continuing saga of the pardoned war criminals

HALIFAX, Canada ― Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer denied Saturday he has threatened to resign over President Donald Trump’s intervention in the case of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing for photos with a dead prisoner of war.

  Defense News

Which was, of course, the very least of what he actually did.

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m still here. I did not threaten to resign,” Spencer said at the Halifax International Security Forum, where Spencer was speaking on a panel about the Arctic.

[...]

Spencer, the Navy’s top civilian, also said he would comply if Trump orders him to stop plans for a Navy hearing to decide whether to strip Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher of his SEAL trident.

Of course he will. He likes his job.

Though Trump tweeted Thursday that post-conviction administrative proceedings against Gallagher should be scuttled, Spencer said he does not interpret tweets as the formal orders he would require to act.

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“I mean, the president of the United States is the commander in chief. He’s involved in every aspect of government, and he can make decisions and he can do things and give orders as he deems appropriate,” he said.

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A day earlier at the international gathering of national security experts, Spencer told the news agency Reuters that he planned to back the Navy’s top uniformed officials, who initiated post-conviction administrative proceedings to expel Gallagher from the SEALs. “I believe the process matters for good order and discipline,” Spencer told Reuters.

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Those comments came after Trump tweeted Thursday: “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin ...This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!”

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“If the president requests that the process stop, the process stops,” Spencer told reporters later. “Good order and discipline is also obeying orders from the president of the United States.”

God forbid one should forego good order and discipline for conscience and justice.

Gallagher’s defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore, believes all parties in the dispute over the boards can use Spencer’s statements in Halifax to build a bridge over what appeared to be a widening gap this week in traditional civil-military relations.

“Everything the secretary said is true and it’s exactly what we’d expect from the secretary of the Navy,” Parlatore said in a telephone interview. “This seems to have been manufactured by the media to create a non-existent crisis.”

Enemy of the people.

And, may I just add that Secretary Spencer has brought only confusion to the issue.

Yesterday:

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer entered the fray Friday against President Donald J. Trump, siding with an embattled rear admiral over the sea service’s right to take away a SEAL’s trident, according to the news agency Reuters.

As a result, it appears that the Navy will proceed with the effort to formally remove Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher from the SEAL community despite the commander in chief’s tweeted wish for the admirals to stand down.

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Asked again by Reuters if he thinks that process should continue, the agency quoted Spencer as saying, “Yes, I do.”

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Late Friday, Navy Times contacted the Pentagon about Spencer’s statements but Chief of Naval Information Rear Adm. Charles Brown couldn’t confirm the accuracy of the Navy Secretary’s comments much less clarify his intended message.

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Although Gallagher was accused of a string of war crimes, including the murder of a wounded Islamic State prisoner of war, a court-martial panel of his peers in July acquitted him of every charge except the one that the he never denied — posing next to the corpse of a dead detainee alongside a dozen other service members who were never charged with any crimes.

[...]

Gallagher, 40, had been told by Navy officials he could retire by the end of November.

Instead, on Wednesday he was served with an order by Green to go before the Trident Review Board, a process that likely will extend his taxpayer-funded time in the Navy.

Echoing a similar statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s spokesman, a day before Gallagher received his summons spokeswoman Higgins said Spencer “supports his commanders in executing their roles, to include Rear Adm. Green.”

[...]

It remains unclear if Spencer’s riposte was the guidance the Navy expected but it’s one that Trump received Friday from Nova Scotia.

It’s also unclear if the Saturday email reflects Trump has conceded to Spencer and his admirals.

Now it’s the White House’s turn to decide what to do next — fire Spencer and Green, possibly even Gilday?

Order the Navy to stop the Trident Review Boards and see if the admirals and Spencer will resign?

Transfer Gallagher out of the SEALs into another unit, where he won’t fall under Green’s command, averting the board before he retires?

Do nothing and sacrifice Gallagher and the other SEALs to the bureaucratic grindstone of Green’s command?

No one is saying.

  Navy Times

Well, Spencer has now said. He's not going to retire, and he's going to follow orders when Trump actually gives them. Gallagher's lawyer says a Trump tweet IS an order. We'll see how Spencer handles it.

We've had Rear Adm. Brown and Rear Adm. Green. I'm still waiting for a Rear Adm. Black, a Rear Adm. White, and a Rear Adm. Gray to weigh in.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Did Trump back down?