Obama opted not to act on presidential pardon request in Bowe Bergdahl's desertion case

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who faces court-martial on a charge of desertion after walking away from his base in Afghanistan and spending five years in militant captivity, sought and failed to receive a presidential pardon by President Barack Obama before he left office, according to Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene Fidell.

The attorney acknowledged the effort Friday after Berghdahl’s legal team filed a new motion to dismiss the Army’s case against their client, citing past harsh rhetoric against Bergdahl by newly sworn-in President Trump. The New York Times previously reported the pardon effort was considered, but Bergdahl’s legal team declined to discuss it at the time.

“We had hoped that (Obama) would grant a pardon. He didn’t,” said Fidell, calling the issue is a “highly discretionary matter” for a president. The White House, he said, opted to not respond to the request.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called Bergdahl “dirty, rotten traitor” to his country and suggested that if he had acted the way he did 25 or 50 years ago, Bergdahl would have been executed by the military. In reality, the United States has executed an accused deserter only once since the Civil War, and not at all since World War II.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/20/obama-denied-a-presidential-pardon-in-bowe-bergdahls-desertion-case-lawyer-says/?utm_term=.607783650fa2&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1

[Turbineguy]

1. He would have taken

Trump off the hook.

[yallerdawg]

2. That's a shame.

Leaving Bowe Bergdahl to the Corrupt Trump administration is not much above returning him to the Taliban.

Can he even count on a slightly bigger cage - or just a firing squad?

[jmowreader]

3. I think Obama was setting Trump up

Trump is going to use his own little thumbs to totally hose the prosecution's case. I doubt "undue command influence" is grounds for impeachment, but it IS grounds for getting a case thrown out.

[cstanleytech]

4. The prosecucation will probably argue its still possible to have a trial thats fair and they

are correct it is possible for Bergdahl to still have a fair trial.
Given the circumstances of the case as a whole though a compromise would be for the the prosecution to offer a plea deal of a dishonorable discharge to Bergdahl with no jail time.

[jmowreader]

5. General is as low as I'd go

That way he could still use the VA, and he'll need to. The defense has a hell of a matter in mitigation in its hand - he was taken captive less than 24 hours after he went AWOL.

Sentence him to time served and general discharge.

[cstanleytech]

6. I dont see the prosecution letting him off without atleast a dishonorable but then again

I didnt see any way for Hillary to lose to someone like Trump until Comey stepped up to lend him a hand.

[hollowdweller]

7. His parents were wingnuts right??

Obama spent a LOT of political capital getting him out. Maybe after he looked at the facts that was all he felt he owed him.

[Arazi]

8. Do you have a link that they were wing nuts?

They seemed more on the progressive side iirc, homesteaders, back to the land types. Bergdahls dad even grew a beard and learned Pashto in solidarity...