Byrne, Colleagues: No Pardon for Bowe Bergdahl

Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, led 27 of his House colleagues in sending a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to reject requests to pardon Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Byrne said: “Our message to President Obama is clear: do not pardon Bowe Bergdahl. A pardon would be a slap in the face to all of our nation’s service members who put their lives on the line each and every day. Instead, we need to let the court martial process play out in accord with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

News reports indicate that Bergdahl’s lawyers have contacted the White House to request a pardon. Bergdahl’s court-martial is currently scheduled to begin in May.

The letter was signed by Representatives Ralph Abraham (R-LA), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Dave Brat (R-VA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Doug Collins (R-GA), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Jody Hice (R-GA), Sam Johnson (R-TX), Walter Jones (R-NC), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Ted Poe (R-TX), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Martha Roby (R-AL), Austin Scott (R-GA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and Ryan Zinke (R-MT).

The text of the letter can be found below.

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to reject any requests to pre-emptively pardon Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.  As you are aware, Sergeant Bergdahl left his outpost in Afghanistan without permission, allegedly in an act of desertion.  After a thorough investigation by the Army, General Robert Abrams, Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces Command, determined that Sergeant Bergdahl should face a general court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. 

Every indication is that the process afforded Sergeant Bergdahl has been fair and in accord with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM).  When Sergeant Bergdahl faces trial next year, he will be entitled to the full procedural rights afforded members of our armed services, including a presumption of innocence, the right to confront his accusers, the right to counsel, and the requirement that his guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  Under these circumstances, his guilt or innocence will be properly ascertained.

The military justice system serves similar objectives as our nations criminal law, namely to discover the truth, acquit the innocent, and punish the guilty for their crimes.  Given the sacrifice of our soldiers involved in this incident and the steep price our country paid for his release, these functions are vitally important to ensuring that justice is served. More importantly, however, military justice also serves to maintain good order and discipline throughout the armed forces, a vital interest to our national defense.  To that end, pardoning Sergeant Bergdahl would undermine a functioning military process and could have a lasting and deleterious effect on our force.

The men and women of our armed forces put their lives in harm’s way each and every day.  Pardoning Mr. Bergdahl would send entirely the wrong message to our nation’s service members.  For this reason and those cited above, we strongly urge you to reject any pardon request for Sergeant Bergdahl and hope you will allow the court-martial process to play out.