Fox’s Hegseth Continues Pressure Campaign Urging Trump To Pardon War Criminals

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Host Pete Hegseth as Nick Lachey Visits "Fox & Friends" to discuss the "American Kennel Club" show at Fox News Channel Studios on February 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Ro... NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Host Pete Hegseth as Nick Lachey Visits "Fox & Friends" to discuss the "American Kennel Club" show at Fox News Channel Studios on February 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Fox News’ Pete Hegseth, who has reportedly lobbied President Trump to pardon men accused of war crimes, ramped up his pressure campaign in a new op-ed on FoxNews.com.

Hegseth said the U.S. needs to reevaluate what it considers to be “war crimes” and admitted he thought about “taking justice into our own hands” while unhanding Iraqi men when he served overseas.

“I was tasked with releasing Iraqi men who we knew had American blood on their hands,” he wrote. “The lawyers told us we had to. Did we think about taking justice into our own hands? Sure we did. The only thing that keeps me up at night is wondering whether those jihadists went on to kill Americans.”

Hegseth did not explicitly say he privately asked the President about issuing pardons for Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher — who is accused of murdering an Islamic State prisoner — Green Beret Matt Golstyen, or 1st Lieutenant Clint Lorrence, but he listed them as examples of accused war criminals who he believes should be pardoned.

“Since my tours, I’ve thought a great deal about rules of engagement, ‘war crimes,’ and the way we fight wars,” he wrote. “I’ve lived it and talked about it. My experience is that—if we want to win this long war—we need to back our warfighters, to include rewriting our rules.

“Our boys did their job, it’s time for us to have their backs,” he said.

Hegseth has not been quiet about his interest in the pardons of military personnel accused of war crimes and has even publicly advocated for the pardons on Fox News. The Daily Beast reported earlier this week that his public advocacy turned private in recent months as he engaged in private talks with Trump about the men’s pardons.

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Notable Replies

  1. And folks in the Trump administration are going ape sh_t that John Walker Lindh has been released? HUH?

  2. If you’re against punishing individual soldiers, how about punishing the real “war criminals” like Cheney instead?

  3. I welcome this.

    Trump choosing to listen to rookies on TV who arm-chair quarterback everything with little to no repercussions is exactly what I want him to do over the next 16 months. This almost guarantees unforced errors and pandemonium (more so) in DJT inner circle while the Child Id stomps his feet wondering why he keeps making gaffes biggly.

  4. These are not “boys who did their job”. These are murders who were found guilty by military tribunal and sentenced accordingly. Pardoning them is lunacy. Meaning it’s likely Trump will do it.

  5. Avatar for dont dont says:

    Can we throw in Henry the K too?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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