Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. serviceman who was taken captive in Afghanistan and later exchanged for five Taliban leaders as part of a prisoner swap, has had his desertion conviction invalidated by a federal judge. The judge, Reggie Walton, ruled that the initial case might have been influenced by a potential conflict of interest. During President Barack Obama’s administration, Bergdahl was exchanged for the release of five Guantanamo Bay detainees associated with the Taliban.
According to Judge Walton, the desertion conviction of Bowe Bergdahl was vacated due to concerns surrounding the potential conflict of interest involving military judge Jeffrey Nance. It was revealed that Nance had not disclosed his application to become an immigration judge under then-President Donald Trump. This omission raised questions about Nance’s impartiality, especially considering Trump’s public criticism of Bergdahl.
Judge Walton stated that Nance’s objectivity in overseeing Bergdahl’s trial could have been compromised because he might have been motivated to appeal to President Trump’s expressed desire for Bergdahl’s conviction and punishment in his application for the immigration judge position. The judge’s submission of a writing sample, which included an order denying Bergdahl’s motion based on President Trump’s statements, and ruling against Bergdahl, could be perceived as actions aligning with the President’s interests in the case, thereby undermining Nance’s neutrality.
As a result of these concerns, Judge Walton ruled in favor of vacating Bergdahl’s desertion conviction.
Bowe Bergdahl endured five years of imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Taliban after he walked away from his post in 2009. He claimed that his intention was to report instances of poor leadership within his unit, as reported by the Associated Press.
Following negotiations by the Obama administration, Bergdahl was returned to the United States in exchange for a trade with the Taliban. Upon his return, he faced trial and pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Despite his guilty plea, Bergdahl was not sentenced to jail time. However, he was required to forfeit $10,000 in pay and received a dishonorable discharge from the military.
During his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Donald Trump referred to Bergdahl as a “dirty rotten traitor” and expressed dissatisfaction with the leniency of his sentence, stating that it was a “complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.”
Following the prisoner exchange, it was reported that four out of the five Taliban members released in return for Bergdahl later became part of the Taliban’s hardline government in Afghanistan after the group took control in the autumn of 2021.
