The Navy’s Special Warfare Command will decide on Dec. 2 whether to revoke Eddie Gallagher‘s SEAL Trident, his lawyer said Wednesday. The move could eject Gallagher from the elite community where he once instructed recruits.
Gallagher, 40, was charged in 2018 for war crimes while deployed in 2017 to Iraq. Following a high profile trial, he was found not guilty of murdering an injured ISIS fighter and of shooting at civilians. He was convicted of posing for a picture with the dead ISIS fighter. As a result, he was reduced in rank from Chief Petty Officer to Petty Officer. Last week, President Trump restored Gallagher’s rank, but the Naval Special Warfare Commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green, countered with announcing he would review Gallagher’s Trident.
Another Navy classification review will decide the SEAL status of Lt. Jacob Portier, Lt Cmdr. Robert Breisch, and Lt. Thomas MacNeil. Portier is Gallagher’s former commanding officer, while MacNeill and Breisch were witnesses at his trial.
Two top Navy leaders have stated that they back the down-line in their chain of command.
“Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, supports his commanders in executing their roles, to include Rear Adm. Green,” Lt Cmdr. Nathan Christensen said in an email to the Washington Examiner. Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer has made a similar statement.
Gallagher’s team cried foul on the commanders.
“The Secretary of the Navy and the [Chief of Naval Operations] should not be supporting this, because the Navy, as an institution, has failed to hold people accountable for their wrongdoing related to this case,” Tim Parlatore, Gallagher’s lawyer, told the Washington Examiner.
Gallagher’s legal team accused Navy prosecutors and investigators of wrongdoing from the start of the case last year. Navy prosecutors were found to have embedded email tracking software in their correspondence with the defense, leading to the removal of lead prosecutor, Cmdr. Chris Czaplak, in June.
Parlatore accused Navy leadership earlier this month of “conspiring” to pull Gallagher’s Trident, claiming Navy leadership wanted to extract a “pound of flesh” from his client.
SEAL tridents are gold badges worn only by members of the elite unit. Individual SEALs consider the Trident a mark of honor. Losing a Trident is one of the most severe consequences a SEAL can experience.
Gallagher is expected to retire from the Navy before the end of the year.
