A letter by one of Sgt. Bergdahl’s attorneys, Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt, on U.S. Army letterhead was sent by registered mail to Trump yesterday. Bergdahl’s attorneys want a meeting with the Republican presidential candidate over comments Trump has made to large crowds in the past concerning Bergdahl’s guilt.
The letter states an interview is requested as soon as possible so the lawyers can determine whether or not Trump has any information about their client in order to determine whether or not to call him as a witness or alternatively depose him.
Bergdahl’s lawyers are concerned their client may not get a fair trial based on Trump’s high-profile past statements.
As the Army Times reports, Bergdahl wandered away from his outpost in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009 and was later captured by the Taliban. The soldier was held captive for five years before being released in a controversial prisoner swap that saw the Obama administration release five Taliban prisoners being held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay to obtain his release.
On March 25, 2015, Bergdahl was charged with one count of desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and one count of misbehaviour before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place.
Trump has made comments about Bergdahl’s guilt while addressing huge crowds in his quest to win the Republican nomination for president. At the beginning of October of last year, Trump was speaking to a crowd at a Las Vegas hotel. The Washington Times reports Trump said, “We’re tired of Sgt. Bergdahl who’s a traitor, a no-good traitor who should have been executed.” Trump added, “Thirty years ago he would have been shot.”
At that time one of Bergdahl’s lawyers said Trump had already become a broken record on the subject and he should study the evidence at the preliminary hearing so he could learn the facts.
Back in August, Trump made similar comments at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, describing Bergdahl as “a dirty rotten traitor.” After those comments, Bergdahl lawyer, Eugene Fidall, said, “This is the lowest kind of demagoguery. Mr. Trump’s comments are contemptible and un-American. They are a call for mob justice.”
Lawyers said they would be monitoring Trump’s comments.
As noted by constitutional attorney Fred Abrams, it is difficult to imagine a situation where Trump could actually be called as a witness. He would have to have some personal knowledge of the facts surrounding the allegations in order to testify at the court-martial.
A date for the court-martial has not yet been finalized. And Trump’s campaign has yet to respond.
