President Trump is preparing to pardon Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher and other members of armed forces accused of war crimes, according to a published report.
In a sign he is considering making the pardons on or around Memorial Day, Trump asked the Justice Department to prepare the requisite paperwork, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Gallagher, a special operations officer, is scheduled to go to trial for allegedly stabbing a wounded prisoner of war to death in Iraq and shooting unarmed civilians in Afghanistan.
Trump recently ordered him transferred to a “less restrictive” prison. Republican lawmakers had called for Gallagher to be released before his trial.
According to the Times, the president might also pardon Army Green Beret Mathew Golsteyn, who was accused of killing an unarmed civilian; Nicholas Slatten, a former Blackwater guard found guilty of shooting dozens of unarmed Iraqis; and a group of Marine snipers accused of defiling a dead Taliban fighter’s corpse.
Earlier this year, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) called on Trump to dismiss Gallagher’s case.
“Chief Gallagher stands accused of murder in the killing of a verified ISIS combatant in a warzone based on inconsistent testimony and without any physical evidence,” Hunter said in a January statement.
“It is important to remember that this ISIS combatant was engaged in an extensive firefight with Chief Gallagher’s team and was already significantly injured when captured. No credible evidence has been provided that this ISIS fighter was murdered as opposed to dying from his terrorist actions.”
The White House requested the Justice Department get going on the pardons on Friday, the Times reported, citing an unnamed military official.