US official tells me when Sec Navy went to WH to ask POTUS to let Navy review board go forward he promised the board would in the end allow Gallagher to keep his Trident and rank. In other words he promised to fix the results of the board which is usually a board of peers.
I am told Navy Secretary Spencer blindsided Defense Secretary Esper and Gen Mark Milley who had gone to the WH to defend Navy decision and ask that Trident review board be allowed to proceed. WH then told them about back deal Spencer tried to cut...
which did not gibe with what Spencer had told the Defense Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. It also was counter to Spencer's public statements. In other words Spencer was not honest with them or the public so Esper asked for his resignation.
In the end Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was not fired for standing up for military justice but for dishonesty and undermining the military justice system, according to a senior US official. He was fired for “lack of candor.”
Official: Esper then decided that given all of the messy issues surrounding Chief Eddie Gallagher’s case that it would be impossible for him to get a fair hearing from military so he has decided to allow him to keep his Trident and retire at current rank from Navy.
I am told by Navy source that they “can’t see a world where they go forward” with the other 3 SEALs peer review board hearing. “We need to move on.”
