The chain of command in the US Navy was moving to try a SEAL team member for ‘conduct unbecoming’ the service….
The actions of the SEAL where said to be against the military code of honor…
A military jury had already lowered the sailors rank….
Donald Trump IS the Commander in Chief of the US Military and in a unusual action, listening to plea from a retired service member , he has moved to overrule the actions of the Sec. off the Navy to hold a trial and strip the sailor involved of his rank and privaklges…
It seems that the Naval Sec. had gone around the Defense Sec. in talking to the Trump people ……All that has led to the Sec. of Defense firing the Sec. of the Navy…
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired Sunday by Defense Secretary Mike Esper, who ordered that a Navy SEAL acquitted of accused of murder be allowed to remain in the elite commando corps, the Defense Department said.
Esper had asked for Spencer’s resignation after he opposed President Donald Trump’s tweeted order that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher retain the gold Trident insignia signifying his status as a member of the Sea, Air, and Land Teams, or SEALs.
In a letter to Trump, Spencer said he acknowledged his “termination,” saying the president deserved a Navy secretary “who is aligned with his vision.”
“Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me,” Spencer wrote.
“In regards to the key principle of good order and discipline, I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The Navy sought to eject Gallagher and four other sailors from the SEALs after Trump intervened to direct that Gallagher not be demoted following his conviction of having posed for a picture with the corpse of a teenage fighter for the Islamic State militant group.
Note my previous post on this case..Here...
image of Navy Sec. Spencer…CNN.Com
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
I’m deeply skeptical of the official telling of the Spencer/Gallagher story. The one consistent theme I’ve heard has been opposition to WH interference at the highest levels of Navy/SEALs & WH pique at that opposition. For Navy Sec to go down & Gallagher survive is odd at best….
Fired Navy Sec.Spencer write a farewell letter…
Richard Spencer did not go quietly after Defense Secretary Mark Esper asked for his resignation as secretary of the Navy over his handling of the case of SEAL Eddie Gallagher, whose demotion for taking a photo with a corpse had been reversed by President Donald Trump.
In the letter he submitted on his way out the door, he did not say that he resigned but rather stated, “I hereby acknowledge my termination.”
The letter delivered a scathing rebuke of Trump, who he said did not agree with him on the importance of military justice and discipline. He also said he had been given an order that he could not in “good conscience obey.” …
More…