If you’ve followed our CTH review, research and analysis of the issues at hand, you will understand our position was that this situation, if true, had a very clear command expectation from U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
It has just been announced that Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has requested the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer (pictured below) for violating the unified chain of command, blackmailing the President of the United States with an ultimatum, and hiding the threat from the Secretary of Defense.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper asked for the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer on Sunday after losing confidence in him over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq, the Pentagon said.
Spencer’s resignation came in the wake of the controversial case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was accused of war crimes on a 2017 deployment. He was acquitted of murder but convicted in July of posing with the corpse of a captive.
Esper asked for Spencer’s resignation after learning that he had privately proposed to White House officials that if they did not interfere with proceedings against Gallagher, then Spencer would ensure that Gallagher was able to retire as a Navy SEAL, with his Trident insignia.
Spencer’s private proposal to the White House — which he did not share with Esper over the course of several conversations about the matter — contradicted his public position on the Gallagher case, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
Esper said in the statement that he was “deeply troubled by this conduct.”
“Unfortunately, as a result I have determined that Secretary Spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position,” Esper said. “I wish Richard well.”
Spencer’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Esper and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, learned of Spencer’s private offer to the White House when they spoke with President Trump on Friday, Hoffman said. (read more at link)
This text is off page on my phone.
The text in this post is not wrapping properly on 2 browsers - Pale Moon and Opera, goes into/under the right sidebar. Possible cut/paste picking up some random html tags from original source?
Two days from now he'll be hired as a CNN correspondent and have a book deal in the works.
Now do the lawyers who went hard on battlefield soldiers for not behaving like Berkeley crowd would like: wearing lipstick and suck to the 7th century savages.
Thanks for sharing. I am career military and I have had enough of these military leaders being activists. I am not a fan of General worship either.
Thank you for your service. It must be difficult to see how the rules don't apply to them either, eg Vindman.
Thanks for your comments on the text. I think I fixed it.