Secretary Esper on firing Navy Sec Spencer, who he accused of trying to cut deal with WH so Eddie Gallagher could keep his SEAL Trident: "I lost trust and confidence when I found that this secret proposal was happening....
the fact that we had all agreed and supported the process, that he was willing to undermine this process, that if that deal had been consummated, if you will, somebody would have to compromise their integrity & the chain of command. I wasn't willing to put that on anybody.""
"And that's why I lost trust and confidence, because I and General Milley and others have been acting on good faith and confidence with regard to the rules and the agreement we set forth. And then to find out ...our position was being undermined."
"And at some point in time somebody might be asked... to compromise our integrity and bend the rules. My view is has been let the process play itself out. If that board of NCOs is to come up with a different reason, who is going to be asked to change it? And that's my issue."
Esper said Spencer lied this weekend when he told a press conference he had NOT threatened to resign over the Gallagher issue. "This is my issue with trust and confidence. I cannot reconcile the personal statements with the public statements with the written word."
