POLITICO:
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that a Navy SEAL who is accused of fatally stabbing an Islamic State detainee during a 2017 deployment to Iraq will be “moved to less restrictive confinement” ahead of his trial in May.
“In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal #EddieGallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court,” the president tweeted. “Process should move quickly!”
Trump’s message follows a request by 40 members of Congress to the Navy on Tuesday to “analyze whether a less severe form of restraint would be appropriate” for Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher instead of “pre-trial confinement” as his court date approaches.
“We ask that you weight this decision given the terrible message Chief Gallagher’s confinement sends to our warfighters, that they can be confined behind bars away from their family, legal defense, and community for nine months before their day in court,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Navy Region Southwest commander Rear Adm. Yancy B. Lindsey. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a former Navy SEAL officer, and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a Marine Corps veteran, were among the message’s signatories.
