Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., admitted he had posed in a photo with a dead combatant in defense of servicemen accused of war crimes.
Hunter, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Saturday at a town hall that the military justice system is “corrupt” in response to Navy SEAL chief Edward Gallagher and Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn facing charges of war crimes during their service.
President Trump is reportedly considering pardons for the servicemen, which Hunter said he supports.
Golsteyn is accused of killing an unarmed Afghan in 2010.
In 2017, Gallagher allegedly shot unarmed civilians and killed an Islamic State fighter by stabbing him in the neck after the teenager was brought to his unit for medical care in Iraq. Prosecutors allege Gallagher texted a photo of himself with the dead fighter with the caption “got him with my hunting knife.”
In reference to the photo, Hunter said “a lot of us have done the exact same thing,” admitting that he had a photo of himself next to a dead combatant but did not send it via text or share it on social media.
