Trump defends decision to fire Navy secretary over Eddie Gallagher case

NY Post ^ | November 25 2019 | Mark Moore

[knighthawk]

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to sack Navy Secretary Richard Spencer for his handling of SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s disciplinary review, saying he will always have the backs of those who serve — except for deserters like Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

“I think what I’m doing is sticking up for our Armed Forces, and there’s never been a president that’s going to stick up for them, and has, like I have,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Bulgaria’s prime minister, Boyko Borissov.

He contrasted his support for the military with how the Obama administration treated the matters involving Bergdahl, who deserted from Afghanistan in 2009 and was taken captive by the Taliban, and Army soldier Chelsea Manning who was convicted of espionage in a court-martial in 2013.

[JoSixChip]

Trump will always have the backs of those who serve — except for deserters like Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

I could not have said that better.

[pepsionice]

The problem I see with this Secretary of the Navy is that he was promising to put together a faked-up board, to get faked-up results, to meet the expectations of everyone involved. What kind of idiot goes and builds something like this?

Once the Secretary of Defense figured all of this out...what exit strategy was left? It’s an serious lack of character on the part of the fired Naval Secretary.

[ETCM]

Once the Secretary of Defense figured all of this out...what exit strategy was left?

Definitely a CF. It sounds to me like the SECNAV didn't have the stones to tell RADM Green to swallow his pride and let it go. Green is a serious badass, and I'm sure he is both intimidating and persuasive, but a SECNAV's job involves telling Admirals to shut up and do what they're told. Setting up a fake board to allow an Admiral to save face was a very bad idea.

[rx]

Though one might try to ascribe bad-apple characteristics to an individual like the Secretary of the Navy, one should not gloss over the possibility that there were skeletons buried that a wider circle of conspirators dearly needed to keep hidden to save themselves from the noose (as HRC admonished Brazile).

In 2013, as The Donald was considering whether he might make a run for the presidency, a preponderance of the evidence shows that US Navy PACFLT admirals (and SOCOM) were drawn into knowingly allowing the use of classified Navy gear (on loan to the CIA) to allow Barry to hide his election-fraud, a forged-LFBC-producing skeleton, some say with the aid of FVEY, or more specifically Crown Agents, as the Deep State cabal perpetrated the planned ditching of a small commuter airline Cessna Grand Caravan onto warm, calm Hawaiian waters, corruptly abusing elements of the NTSB, FAA, state and local agencies in their wake.

Using two branches of the military (including the USCG) for election fraud is the stuff of Barry's view of the US, which we previously would have hoped was consigned only to some Central American banana republic.

A lot more of the Deep State swamp needs yet to be drained!

[Does so]

Radio news (ABC?) described the ISIS terrorist as a “teenager”.

Later, news reports claimed the “teenager” was killed by another U.S. soldier, not Gallagher.

[exnavy]

The SECNAV serves at the pleasure of the elected president, there is no need to defend.

[Enduro Guy]

There’s nothing quite like having the most powerful man on planet earth going to bat for you...

[Zhang Fei]

[Once the Secretary of Defense figured all of this out...what exit strategy was left? It’s an serious lack of character on the part of the fired Naval Secretary.]

---

Spencer was caught between Trump and Esper.

---

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/23/politics/edward-gallagher-navy-trump-disciplinary-action/index.html
[Washington (CNN) Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley have raised serious concerns with the White House in the last 48 hours after President Donald Trump signaled he would block the Navy from ejecting Eddie Gallagher from the SEALs, an administration official told CNN.

“There is extreme concern over decision making being pulled from the Navy,” one administration official told CNN Saturday in reaction to Trump’s Thursday tweet that “the Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin.” The Trident Pin, which is worn by Navy SEALs, is awarded following their completion of an intense qualification course and symbolizes membership in the elite military community.]

[abb]

Wonder if Trump ran a sting on Spencer? Maybe by having some anonymous staffer hint to him that Trump might do a deal, and then when Spencer took the bait, lopping his head off.

[sauropod]

I recall reading (somewhere) that Milley had some sort of personal antipathy toward one of the SEALS pardoned. The SEAL should have been freed and made whole again, but Milley had intervened. This happened maybe a year or two ago.

Not a Mark Milley fan. Not at all.

[pepsionice]

Maybe, but for Spencer to accept the admiral’s idea (we assume) to run some fake board, to have some fake results....all to make Trump happy and get his approval for this....without talking to the Secretary of Defense about the whole scheme and where it was going...is totally something that you’d expect out of a young juvenile-like manager.

Once the SecDef figured this all out, I’m guessing he picked up the phone and said you need to come to a face-to-face with me.

I don’t doubt that the admiral is the one who hatched it, but with the public so fired up about fake things...then you look at the basic story, it’s all fake.

My patience with the Pentagon, the FBI, the Justice Department, and all of these pretender-groups has run out. If you just ask yourself each morning...does X and Y look fake, and any portion of the situation appears fake, then it’s fake. I think around the clock now, I’m asking the fakeness question, and stamping things on a routine basis as ‘fake’. We should all be doing the same thing.

[abb]

One problem is most bureaucrats don’t have enough real work to do. Then they start thinking up all these projects to meddle where they don’t belong. When Trump’s reelected, he needs to completely zot the CIA and the FBI. Leave nothing but a smoking crater.

Looks like the Bourne movies weren’t fiction after all.

[dp0622]

Plus Trump owes an explanation to NOBODY.

It is gracious of him to even give one

[chopperk]

Mr. Spencer is not too smart. Apparently no one told him he worked for the troops at the pleasure of the President.

[Zhang Fei]

[Mr. Spencer is not too smart. Apparently no one told him he worked for the troops at the pleasure of the President.]

---

I’d have to agree. He should have contradicted Esper and supported Trump.

[FES0844]

Thank you President Trump!

[Lazamataz]

He does not have to DEFEND his Executive Privilege.

[BuffaloJack]

Spencer should be glad that I’m not POTUS. I’d have had him before a firing squad.

[BuffaloJack]

“Gallagher faced a ... disciplinary review ... after posing with the corpse of an Islamic State militant ...”

I don’t see why posing with an enemy corpse is bad. I’d have had the enemy taken to a taxidermist for mounting.