President Trump intervened in three military justice cases involving war-crimes accusations Friday, issuing at least two pardons that will prevent the Pentagon from pursuing future charges against the individuals involved, according to one of their lawyers and a U.S. official.
The service members involved were notified by Trump over the phone, said the U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, who faced a murder trial scheduled to begin next year, took the phone call and was informed he would receive a full pardon, said his lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse.
The calls were made at the tail end of a day dominated by impeachment hearings against Trump, and after days of efforts by some senior Pentagon officials to change his mind, according to three U.S. officials. The officials, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that some commanders have raised concerns that Trump’s move will undermine the military justice system.
Other U.S. officials and advocates for the service members involved have said that adopting the president’s desires in the military justice system should not be difficult. It typically has commanders overseeing the process in the military’s chain of command, with Trump serving at the top of that system as commander in chief.
Golsteyn went from being decorated with a Silver Star for valor in Afghanistan to facing years of investigation and a court-martial in the 2010 death of a suspected bomb maker in Afghanistan, according to Army documents previously obtained by The Washington Post.
The other cases involve former Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who recently was acquitted of murder but convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State militant; and former Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 for ordering his soldiers to open fire on three men in Afghanistan.
Golsteyn, in a statement issued Friday night, said that his family is “profoundly grateful” for Trump’s action, and said they have lived in “constant fear of this runaway prosecution” by the Army.
“Thanks to President Trump, we now have a chance to rebuild our family and lives,” Golsteyn said. "With time, I hope to regain my immense pride in having served in our military. In the meantime, we are so thankful for the support of family members, friends and supporters from around the nation, and our legal team.”