Defense lawyers for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have issued a letter to Donald Trump asking to arrange a meeting with him in regards to his vocal condemnation of their defendant. Unsatisfied to allow due process to run its course, Trump has repeatedly referred to Sgt. Bergdahl as a traitor and indicated that he should be executed.
Bergdahl is scheduled for a two-week court-martial hearing in August at Fort Bragg. He has been charged with desertion and misbehavior for voluntarily abandoning his combat post in Afghanistan in 2009. Bergdahl is not being charged with treason despite Trump’s slander.
During a New Hampshire town hall in August 2015, Trump again referred to Sgt. Bergdahl as a “dirty rotten traitor.” In another public appearance at a Las Vegas rally in October 2015, Trump stated;
“We’re tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who’s a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed.”
BuzzFeed reported that Sgt. Bergdahl’s attorney, Eugene Fidell had called for an end to Trump’s “prejudicial” campaign against his client, to no avail.
“This is the lowest kind of demagoguery,” he said. “Mr. Trump’s comments are contemptible and un-American. They are a call for mob justice,” Fidell said.
The letter requests an interview with the GOP candidate, to determine if it will be necessary for the defense to seek a deposition or to have Trump appear as a witness at Sgt. Bergdahl’s trial.
Regardless of Trump’s opinion of Sgt. Bergdahl, which he is entitled to, despite his own multiple deferments and dodgy medical disqualification from active service, the defense team is right to question if their client will be able to receive a fair trial in light of Trump’s loud mouth.
President Nixon nearly caused a mistrial when he remarked on his belief in Charles Manson’s guilt during an impromptu press briefing. Anyone aspiring to become president should be aware of the inherent dangers of speculating on a person’s guilt or innocence in a public forum. Of course, this is the same man who used a televised debate for the presidential candidacy to discuss his tiny hands and penis size, so such understanding might be too much to hope.
Featured image by United States Army [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
