Bergdahl's conviction overturned.
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He pled "guilty." That should have ended any discussion, no?
Bergdahl, from Hailey, Idaho, pleaded guilty in 2017 to desertion. He was spared prison time but was dishonorably discharged from the military and had his rank reduced to private, as well as the forfeiture of $10,000 in pay.
In 2009, he walked away from his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban and held for five years. Some of his fellow soldiers were injured trying to find him.
Aslo, does a federal judge have jurisdiction over a military trial?
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington D.C. said that military judge Jeffrey Nance, who presided over the court-martial of Bowe Bergdahl, failed to disclose that he had applied to the executive branch for a job as an immigration judge, creating a potential conflict of interest.
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Five military veterans in Congress have written Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Attorney General Merrick Garland asking they review options for retrying former Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl after his verdict was vacated last week by a civilian court.
Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; Jake Ellzey, R-Texas; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., demanded an immediate review of the case, saying the nullification of the sentence "dishonors those who served and died alongside Bergdahl."
"Bergdahl's actions endangered and potentially got his comrades killed," they wrote. "By omission, condoning such behavior puts the lives of future American soldiers in peril."
The former prisoner of war pleaded guilty in 2017 to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, having left his post in Afghanistan in 2009, subsequently being captured by the Taliban and held for nearly five years.
Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge, loss of rank to private, and forfeiture of $10,000 in pay.
His case was appealed through the military court system, which upheld the original verdict. After exhausting his options in that system, however, Bergdahl sued the United States in federal court.
Last week, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Reggie Walton vacated the sentence, dismissing the orders by the judge who presided over Bergdahl's court-martial, Col. Jeffery Nance, after Nance failed to disclose that he had applied for a position as a federal immigration judge in the Trump administration -- a job prospect that gave the appearance of a potential conflict of interest.
In his decision, Judge Walton ruled in favor of the government in another of Bergdahl's arguments for dismissal of his case -- that then-President Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., exerted unlawful command influence by saying negative things about Bergdahl.
Given the split decision, both Bergdahl and the Justice Department have a right to appeal, which would take the case to the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals.
