The wife of Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, a Special Forces soldier accused of murder, said she is not concerned President Trump did not pardon her husband on Memorial Day.
The White House reportedly began reviewing several cases of troops accused of various crimes for potential pardon earlier this month, with the expectation they would be announced on Memorial Day. Trump told reporters on Friday that he may let some of the trials run their course before making a final decision. He ultimately did not announce any pardons on Memorial Day.
“We have confidence in the president’s [judgment] and timing he chooses,” Julie Golsteyn told the Washington Examiner. “However, I am disappointed in the politicians and pundits who spent the past two weeks calling my husband a ‘war criminal’ for an action the Army deemed legal in 2015.”
Golsteyn, 38, stands accused of killing a suspected Taliban bombmaker while on deployment to Afghanistan in 2010. He was initially not charged following an Army investigation, but the investigation was reopened in 2016 after Golsteyn admitted to the killing during a Fox News interview.
The man, believed to have built a bomb that killed two Marines, was arrested after a local tribal elder identified him as a Taliban member, but Golsteyn and his men ultimately had to release him. Army prosecutors claim Golsteyn then killed the unarmed man, but Golsteyn has claimed he set up an ambush in case the man fled towards the Taliban position. After his release, the man allegedly proceeded toward the Taliban position, prompting Golsteyn to shoot him. Golsteyn said he was concerned for the safety of the tribal elder and his fellow troops. Golsteyn admitted to shooting the man during a CIA polygraph examination.
Some critics of Trump’s potential pardon for Golsteyn and others say military justice should be allowed to run its course, while others claim a pardon would be a stain on the military’s honor and jeopardize troop discipline. Golsteyn’s lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse, dismissed concerns over a pardon’s effect on troops’ behavior.
“To imply a pardon would let slip the dogs of war and turn them into murderous hyenas is just pandering,” Stackhouse told the Washington Examiner. “To what end, I do not know — but pandering it is, without a doubt. Yes, I would like to see a pardon.”
Golsteyn’s trial date has yet to be disclosed, but Trump has the authority to pardon him at any time.
