Navy’s top admiral steps in, assumes authority in Navy SEAL war crimes cases

Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, dismissed all charges against Navy SEAL Lt. Jacob X. Portier, who was set to face trial in September on charges related to the high-profile murder case of Special Operator 1st Class Edward R. Gallagher.

Richardson also ordered a full review of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps., (JAG) which is the judicial system for the military.

“Recent events indicate a need to review the leadership and performance of the (JAG) Corps,” Richardson said in a memo.

A Navy official, who asked to be anonymous because he is not authorized to comment on the case, told the Union-Tribune Thursday evening that Richardson also stripped San Diego-based Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar of her authority over the Gallagher case.

Richardson’s spokeswoman, Lt. Cmdr. Jacqueline Pau, Thursday denied that occurred.

“CNO has taken no action at this time,” she said about Bolivar in an email.

Cmdr. Jereal Dorsey, a Navy spokesman, said the decision to drop Portier’s charges came from Richardson, not from President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday rescinded medals awarded to prosecutors in the Gallagher case, writing on Twitter that they lost the case and gave witnesses immunity “in a totally incompetent fashion.”

Last month a jury found Gallagher not guilty of premeditated murder in connection with the 2017 death of a captive teenage ISIS fighter he was treating for injuries. He also was acquitted of charges related to allegations he shot at civilians and tried to intimidate witnesses.

He was convicted of one charge for posing with the fighter’s corpse. He was reduced a rank to E-6, or petty officer 1st class.

Portier’s charges were related to Gallagher’s case, including
conduct unbecoming an officer, for allegedly conducting Gallagher’s reenlistment ceremony near a dead enemy combatant — the same fighter Gallagher was found not guilty of murdering.

Portier also was charged with dereliction of duty because, prosecutors say, he failed to supervise Gallagher that day. He also was charged with failure to report war crimes allegations against Gallagher and with obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence.

Portier denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty. He was set to be in court Friday for a motions hearing before Richardson dropped the charges.

“Richardson took this action in the best interest of justice and the Navy,” a Navy statement said of the dropped charges.

Richardson said in a memo that the JAG review should address training and professional development, with an “evaluation of the JAG Corps officer career progression and community values for promotion selection and detailing.”

The lead prosecutor in the Gallagher case, Cmdr. Chris Czaplak, was removed before trial, after a judge ruled that his efforts to track defense attorney emails amounted to misconduct and violated Gallagher’s constitutional rights.

Richardson also stripped the authority to prosecute Petty Officer 1st Class Corey Scott away from Region Legal Service Office Southwest. Navy authorities had floated the possibility of prosecuting Scott for perjury after he testified that he, not Gallagher, killed a wounded ISIS fighter in Iraq.

Pau said late Thursday that Trump did not order the dropped charges and that Richardson acted on his own to ensure confidence in the military justice system.

“The judicial system is not broken, but let’s let this review play out,” she said. “We will be transparent with what we find. We understand that the most important thing is to maintain the trust and confidence of the American people.”

Pau declined to comment when asked when Richardson last spoke with the president.

Jeremiah Sullivan, Portier’s civilian defense attorney, thanked the president anyway.

“I want to thank the president for his continued support of Lt. Portier and all our warfare fighters,” he said in an email to the Union-Tribune. “We never gave up the ship.”