US Navy Secretary Richard Spencer talking to the media at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has fired the Navy’s top official over his handling of the case of a SEAL accused of war crimes. - AP
WASHINGTON (Nov 25, AP): Defence Secretary Mark Esper has fired the Navy’s top official, ending a stunning clash between President Donald Trump and top military leadership over the fate of a SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq.
Esper said on Sunday that he had lost confidence in Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and alleged that Spencer proposed a deal with the White House behind his back to resolve the SEAL’s case. Trump has championed the matter of Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but convicted of posing with the corpse while in Iraq in 2017.
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