Lawmakers urge defense leaders to send Bowe Bergdahl to trial again
By Leo Shane III
Jul 31, 12:35 PM
A group of Republican lawmakers is pushing Defense Department leaders to retry Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for desertion after his conviction was thrown out by a federal judge last week.
Five military veterans — Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; Jake Ellzey, R-Texas; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa. — sent a letter to both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding “an immediate review of options for a new trial” for Bergdahl, calling it a matter of fairness and justice.
Bergdahl pled guilty to desertion in 2017, but his conviction was thrown out in July on a technicality. He’d left his military base in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by the Taliban and held captive for nearly five years. Hundreds of troops spent thousands of man hours looking for the missing soldier, and military officials said several were wounded in enemy attacks.
“Bergdahl’s actions endangered and potentially got his comrades killed,” the GOP lawmakers wrote. “This outcome dishonors those who served and died alongside Bergdahl, and by omission condoning such behavior, puts the lives of future American soldiers in peril.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/07/31/lawmakers-urge-defense-leaders-to-send-bowe-bergdahl-to-trial-again/
