Thread by @DanLamothe

NEW TODAY: ‘Insurgents’ lobbied Trump for war-crimes pardons with little Pentagon involvement, officials say.

I know impeachment hearings are ongoing. But bear with @jdawsey1 and I as we walk you through Trump's war-crimes pardons deliberations. 1/

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

@jdawsey1 As we state up high: “This account of how Trump reached his decision -- and what comes next -- is based on interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the cases, including White House and Pentagon officials.” 2/

@jdawsey1 First of all: Flash back to last December. @PeteHegseth of @foxnews talked on air with @GolsteynJulie, the wife of Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn. They discussed her husband’s murder case at length, with both airing frustration that the Army was still pressing its investigation. 3/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie A short time later, President Trump weighed in with a tweet that turned head in the Pentagon and beyond:

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1074319076766433280?lang=en

4/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie As one person involved in advocating for Golsteyn described it, a small “cohort” of “insurgents” had lobbied on his behalf for years. His case also previously received a fair amount of media attention, which I touched on in a thread early this year:

https://twitter.com/DanLamothe/status/1094281180407652354

5/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie With Trump expressing interest, however, the ground shifted. Additional efforts by @PeteHegseth and others were made to advocate to the president about that case and others. 6/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie Golsteyn, meanwhile, began telling his own story – always a chancy endeavor when facing prosecution. 7/

washingtonpost.com/world/national…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie A few conservative congressmen were involved. So was UAPatriots, a non-profit that raises money and advocates on behalf of those charged with war crimes. UAP sent files about a few cases to the White House, raising concerns about how they had been investigated or prosecuted. 8/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie In May, @David_Philipps of the New York Times broke in with a story: Trump was possibly considering war-crimes pardons around Memorial Day, a day meant to mourn war dead. The backlash was immediate. 9/

nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps Trump didn’t act by the holiday, but he also didn’t dispute it was true.

"Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long," he said. "You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight sometime, they get really treated very unfairly." 10/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps The following month, the Navy convened the court-martial of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL accused of murder. The trial objectively turned into an embarrassment, with the service giving immunity to a SEAL who then undercut the prosecution’s story. 11/

taskandpurpose.com/navy-seal-shoo…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps Gallagher was acquitted of murder, but convicted of posing with an Islamic State corpse. His penalty: A reduction in rank and a pay cut as he neared retirement. 12/

navytimes.com/news/your-navy…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps After the fact, the Navy awarded medals to prosecutors involved in the botched case. Trump read about it in the media and told the service to take them back. 13/

washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps With all of this going on, the Army’s case against Golsteyn, accused of murdering an unarmed suspected Taliban bomb maker nine years ago in Afghanistan, continued.

Lorance served out a prison sentence while others lobbied on his behalf.

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@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps That leads us to early this month.

@PeteHegseth announced that Trump was intervening in the case of Gallagher, Golsteyn and former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 for ordering his men to shoot at unarmed Afghans. 15/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps The following day, @EsperDOD, @SecArmy and others went to the White House armed with charts and graphics to make the case to Trump that issuing pardons was a bad idea. 16/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy But Trump’s mind already was made up. He said as much, according to several people familiar with the situation. 17/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy Last week, Trump followed through an intervened. He called all three men, including the imprisoned Lorance at Fort Leavenworth.

The Post scooped the news shortly before the White House announcement.

18/

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy What’s next? The Navy was preparing this week to consider ejecting Gallagher from the SEALs, but Trump lashed out this morning, saying that he won’t have it. In the military, this is often referred to as being told to “shut up and color.” 19/

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1197507542726909952

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy Reached today, the Navy's @chinfo referred questions to the White House. The Navy is apparently waiting for further guidance, including how to handle the administrative cases of three SEAL officers involved in the Gallagher case. 20/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy @chinfo Meanwhile, the Army has been ambiguous about what it will do with Golsteyn. He's pardoned before facing trial. But he also wants back the Special Forces tab that the service revoked. 21/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy @chinfo He also wants back an award for valor in Afghanistan, which he earned within a few days of the killing that put him under scrutiny. He had recognized with the Silver Star, and it was later approved for upgrade to the Distinguished Service Cross. That was never pinned on. 22/

@jdawsey1 @PeteHegseth @FoxNews @GolsteynJulie @David_Philipps @EsperDoD @SecArmy @chinfo And we're all left to wonder: What other dominoes fall? Does Navy leadership react? Does Army leadership?

Also: Is there anyone else that Trump might entertain in a pardon process? He has broad power in that regard.

More to come? Maybe. Perhaps. Or, perhaps not.

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