WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - United States President Donald Trump and senior Navy officials clashed over a high-profile war-crimes case as Mr Trump vowed on Twitter on Thursday (Nov 21) that he would not allow a Navy Seal convicted of battlefield misconduct to be expelled from the elite commando force.
Mr Trump's latest intervention in events surrounding the court martial of Special Operations chief Edward Gallagher came despite the support of top Navy leaders for the decision to formally review Mr Gallagher's fitness to remain a Seal.
Mr Gallagher's lawyer said his client was told by a naval special warfare command representative on Thursday that proceedings against him would go forward, despite Mr Trump's assertion to the contrary.
The Navy's chief spokesman in Washington later said that "lawful orders" from the President to halt the review would be followed and the Navy was "awaiting further guidance".
A military jury in July convicted Mr Gallagher of illegally posing for pictures with the corpse of an Islamic State fighter while deployed to Iraq in 2017 but acquitted him of murder in the detainees's death. He also was cleared of charges that he deliberately fired on unarmed civilians.
The conviction led to Mr Gallagher, 40, a decorated platoon leader, being sentenced to a demotion in rank and pay, but not prison time.
Mr Trump last Friday restored Mr Gallagher's rank and pay, allowing him to retire on a full pension, while pardoning two Army officers who were separately accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.
Critics said Mr Trump's actions undermined military justice and sent a message that battlefield atrocities would be tolerated.
However, the Navy's top Seal, Rear Admiral Collin Green, commander of naval special warfare, followed Mr Trump's move on Mr Gallagher's behalf by convening a special five-member panel to review the case and recommend whether he should be stripped of the trident pin designating him a Seal.
Mr Gallagher was formally notified on Wednesday that he was the subject of a "trident review board" hearing set for Dec 2.
Mr Trump's rebuke on Twitter came the next morning.
"The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!" he tweeted.
A short time later, Mr Gallagher was told face-to-face by a representative of Admiral Green's special warfare command at Naval Base Coronado, near San Diego, that the review would proceed as planned, according to Mr Gallagher's lead defence attorney, Mr Timothy Parlatore.
Mr Parlatore told Reuters he, nevertheless, took the meaning of Mr Trump's declaration on Twitter as "unequivocal", saying he considered it a "direct and lawful order from the commander-in-chief".
Rear Admiral Charlie Brown, a Navy spokesman in Washington, issued a statement on Thursday evening indicating the Navy was looking for a formal directive, as opposed to a presidential tweet.
"The Navy follows the lawful orders of the President. We will do so in case of an order to stop the administrative review of SOC Gallagher's professional qualification. We are aware of the President's tweet and we are awaiting further guidance," he said.
It was not clear what impact a resolution of the Gallagher review would have on similar proceedings ordered by Admiral Green for three of Mr Gallagher's commanding officers, whose accountability the Navy said was called into question by Mr Gallagher's conduct.
Mr Gallagher has insisted that aside from the photos for which he was punished, the court martial case against him was fabricated by accusers who were disgruntled, inexperienced subordinates who objected to his leadership style and tactics.
