Army displeased after Bowe Bergdahl’s lawyers release sensitive documents online
By Andy Wolf|March 21st, 2016|Military News, U.S. Army|1 Comment
http://popularmilitary.com/army-displeased-after-bowe-bergdahls-lawyers-release-sensitive-documents-online/Army legal is protesting a decision made my Bowe Bergdahl’s lawyers after the defense team released and uncut 373-page transcript of his interview by a general officer.
According to the Washington Post, the Army claims the document included sensitive information and raises serious concerns on whether or not the Bergdahl defense team can be trusted with classified information.
The Army interjected their objections in a court filing with the Army Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday, arguing for an extension until the end of March to respond to an appeal due to the recent unauthorized leak. The request has since been denied.
Facing an official court martial in August, the 29-year-old Bergdahl deliberately abandoned his Afghan outpost on June 29, 2009 and was held by the Taliban until May of 2014 in an exchange for five Taliban leaders who were held at Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.
The US Army legal team cites that sensitive information such as personally identifiable information (PII) was included- a violation of policy that the Bergdahl team was aware of.
“Defense counsel’s unwillingness to abide by the terms of a protective order dealing with only PII and sensitive information underscores the legitimate concern as to their access to classified information and whether they will comply with a protective order dealing with classified information,” Army lawyers said in a filing.
Army legal intends to file a request a writ of prohibition under the All Writs Act, an old law dating back to 1789 that gives the government power to require things not covered by other law.
The documents transcribing the conversation between deserter Bergdahl and then-Major General Kenneth Dahl -who is now a three-star-general- can be found here.
Dahl claims he found Bergdahl to be telling the truth, though he seemed both disillusioned with his unit and delusional about his abilities to simply sneak off and avoid capture on his planned mission- one that required Bergdahl to traverse twenty miles of Taliban territory to get to another base and report his unit’s misdeeds. He suggested Bergdahl serve no prison time.
