Trump Pardons Soldier Convicted in Afghanistan Killings

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump on Friday granted clemency to two Army officers, one of whom is in prison after being convicted in the killing of two men in Afghanistan.

Trump signed an order that gave a full pardon to Lieutenant Clint Lorance, who had ordered soldiers under his command to open fire on three men who were moving toward them on a motorcycle “with unusual speed,” according to a White House statement.

The president also pardoned Major Mathew Golsteyn, a Green Beret who has been charged with an unlawful killing in Afghanistan and was facing a court martial.

According to the White House statement, Golsteyn had shot a man suspected of making a bomb that had killed two Marines “because he was certain that the terrorist’s bombmaking activities would continue to threaten American troops and their Afghan partners, including Afghan civilians who had helped identify him.”

Trump also ordered the promotion of Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who had been acquitted of killing a prisoner in Afghanistan but was found guilty on another charge because he posed next to the prisoner’s corpse. He was selected for promotion before the prosecution.

Trump’s action in the cases come as he’s seeking re-election in 2020 and has been campaigning as a champion of the military and law enforcement. Trump routinely boasts of signing legislation increasing Pentagon funding.

The pardons had been anticipated by U.S. officials, and plans to do so have been criticized by military justice experts who say the president is subverting the legal process, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper also reported that senior U.S. military officials have raised concern that pardons could hurt discipline and order in the ranks.

In Lorance’s case, he was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 after members of his unit testified against him and he’d been serving a 19-year prison sentence. His advocates said prosecutors hid details, including evidence that the suspects were affiliated with the Taliban, the Post reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, John Harney

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